Kavcic Continues Canadian Dominance In Granby
Kavcic Continues Canadian Dominance In Granby
Revisit the week that was on the ATP Challenger Tour as we applaud the achievements of those on the rise and look ahead to who’s in action in the week to come
A LOOK BACK
Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby (Granby, Canada): Fourth seed Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia won his second Challenger title in Canada over the past month by defeating second seed and local favourite Peter Polansky 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. The 30 year old also defeated Polansky in the Winnipeg final. Meanwhile, Polansky has finished runner-up in three consecutive Challengers on home soil (Winnipeg, Gatineau, Granby) and is inching closer to a debut inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.
Binghamton Challenger (Binghamton, New York): Cameron Norrie of Great Britain picked up his first Challenger title with an upset victory over top seeded Aussie Jordan Thompson 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. Norrie turned pro in June after an outstanding college tennis career at Texas Christian University. Thompson was aiming for his first title of the year after a dominant 2016 season on the ATP Challenger Tour that saw him rack up four titles.
Internazionali di Tennis di Cortina (Cortina, Italy): Fourth seed Roberto Carballes Baena saved his best tennis for the final, with the Spaniard recording a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over third seed Gerald Melzer of Austria. Carballes Baena picks up his first Challenger title since 2015, with all three victories at this level coming on red clay.
Advantage Cars Prague Open (Prague, Czech Republic): Fourth seed Andrej Martin of Slovakia continued his solid season by taking the title 7-6(3), 6-3 over Yannick Maden of Germany. The 27 year old Martin also prevailed this March in San Luis Potosi. Despite the loss, Maden can take heart in reaching his first Challenger final of 2017.
Aamulehti Tampere Open (Tampere, Finland): Eighth seed Calvin Hemery of France scored his first Challenger title by ousting top seed Pedro Sousa of Portugal 6-3, 6-4. The 22 year old reached his first Challenger final this past June on home soil in Blois. Sousa was seeking his second Challenger title after winning his maiden crown this past April in Francavilla.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Kavcic: “I was feeling tired a while back, but it was my coach who convinced me to come and play in these Canadian Challenger tournaments. I know that the fans today were cheering for Peter, but thank you for also cheering for me when I made good shots. Congratulations to Peter on a great match. We played about two weeks ago in the final in Winnipeg and both matches were long and hard fought. I hope that we don’t have to play against each other soon, because it is very tough to play against him.”
Polansky: “It was a pretty high level final. The match could have gone either way. The margins were really small and he got that last break at 5-6. He played well and made some tough shots. I thought it was a great match.”
Carballes Baena: “I’m very happy. It was a special week for me. It was a tough week against Andrea Arnaboldi (in the second round) and yesterday against Marcel Granollers. But I played better in the final and left it all out there.”
A LOOK AHEAD
There are five Challengers on the schedule this week, with the $125,000 event in Biella, Italy, taking top billing as it returns for the 13th year. Local favourite Marco Cecchinato is the top seed and Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is the second seed. Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, who emerged as a lucky loser to win the ATP World Tour event in Hamburg this past week, is the third seed. Carballes Baena looks for another title as the eighth seed and Hemery is also in the draw.
The $125,000 tournament in Chengdu, China, is back for the second year. Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei is the top seed and Evgeny Donskoy of Russia is the second seed. A pair of #NextGenATP South Koreans, Duckhee Lee and Soon Woo Kwon, are the third and sixth seeds, respectively.
Segovia, Spain hosts a $100,000 Challenger event for the 27th consecutive year. Local favourite Marcel Granollers is the top seed and Peter Gojowczyk of Germany is the second seed. A pair of #NextGenATP players, Alex De Minaur of Australia and Christian Garin of Chile, are also in the draw.
The $75,000 event in Lexington, Kentucky, celebrates its 23rd consecutive year on the calendar. #NextGenATP player Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan is the top seed and American Denis Kudla is the top seed. Another #NextGenATP player, American Michael Mmoh, is the fourth seed, while Norrie looks for another title on U.S. soil.
Lastly, the $50,000 Challenger in Liberec, Czech Republic, returns for the fifth consecutive year. Local favourite Adam Pavlasek is the top seed and Oscar Otte of Germany is the second seed. Former Top 5 player Tommy Robredo is the seventh seed.
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