You would be hard-pressed to find a more thrilling final on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2018. 

It was a highly-anticipated championship clash and it certainly did not disappoint, as 22-year-old Noah Rubin edged 20-year-old Marc Polmans 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 at the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger on Saturday. Rubin needed six match points to secure his fourth Challenger title – and first on clay – after two hours and eight minutes.

With Polmans serving to stay in the match at 5-4 in the decider, he refused to abandon his aggressive gameplan. The #NextGenATP Aussie escaped from a 0/40 deficit and survived two more championship points later in the game. On two occasions, a Rubin forehand missed clipping the tramline by mere inches. But, in the end, the American would have his moment in the winners’ circle, sealing the victory on his sixth opportunity when a Polmans approach shot found the net.

On his SIXTH championship point, @Noahrubin33 takes the title in a thrilling Tallahassee final. Edges Marc Polmans 62 36 64. #ATPChallenger titles on hard and clay in 2018 for the ?? pic.twitter.com/9M5aS62opX

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 28, 2018

“It was an interesting match,” Rubin told USTA broadcaster Mike Cation. “We were both nervous and wanted our first titles on clay. I’ll say that I had more on the line. A title goes a long way. It’s tough to beat winning a title, obviously. There are a lot of good players here and strong competition. There was a lot on the line today and he’s been playing well all week. I knew how to stay with it the whole match.

“He’s definitely a crafty player. I actually think I overanalysed his game a little too much. But in the first set, I made sure I simplified things and played my game. I didn’t give him many free points. I think the biggest difference for me was the movement on my forehand. I hit a lot of great angled winners. That was the difference in the end. 

“I was unusually calm for myself. I knew that I couldn’t spare any energy early on and I was protective of myself in that sense. I knew any grunting or screaming couldn’t happen at that point. But I felt pretty confident. Then I closed it out on my sixth match point. Again, I felt pretty confident. I was making him play some shots he didn’t want to. Giving up a 0/40 lead is tough, but it turned out ok.”

Polmans will hold his head high after another successful week. There are few players hotter than the World No. 175 at the moment. He has won a combined 31 matches already this year on the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures circuit. This week’s Tallahassee final marked his second Challenger title match after capturing his maiden crown on home soil in Launceston, Australia, in February. 

For Rubin, the win gives him titles on both hard and clay this year, adding to his season-opening crown in Noumea. He has been on a tear since returning from a wrist injury that kept him on the sidelines for much of the 2017 season. Now 13-4 on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2018, he is projected to return to the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings.

With the clay-court season well underway, there are three ATP World Tour 250-level events next week. At the BMW Open by FWU, World No. 3 Alexander Zverev will attempt to retain his title and earn the seventh tour-level trophy of his career. The German leads a strong field, with Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, Argentine Diego Schwartzman and South Korean Hyeon Chung striving for success.

Like Zverev, World No. 4 Marin Cilic is also trying to defend a title, as the top seed leads the field at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. The Millennium Estoril Open also boasts an impressive line-up with World No. 8 Kevin Anderson and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta competing as the top two seeds.

View Draw: Munich | Istanbul | Estoril

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN MUNICH

1) The Champ is Here: Alexander Zverev, who turned 21 on 20 April, is already making his fifth appearance in Munich. He’s improved his results each year, from the first round in 2014 and second round in 2015 to the semi-finals in 2016 and the title last year. Zverev has been ranked in the Top 5 each week since 11 September 2017. After winning five ATP World Tour titles last season, he’s seeking his first of 2018.

2) Right at Home: German Philipp Kohlschreiber has earned 30 or more wins and enjoyed Top 50 finishes in the year-end ATP Rankings in each of the past 11 seasons. Kohlschreiber has been especially successful in Germany, where he is 116-61 (.655). The 34-year-old is making his 10th straight showing and 14th appearance overall in Munich. The three-time titlist (2007, 2012, 2016) has reached the final a total of five times.

3) Other Germans: Yannick Hanfmann, Yannick Maden, Maximilian Marterer, Florian Mayer, Jan-Lennard Struff and Mischa Zverev will also represent Germany in their native country. Marterer has had an especially strong season, winning the first seven tour-level matches of his career in 2018, not including his sixth ATP Challenger Tour title at Cherbourg, France.

4) Steady Spaniard: Like Kohlschreiber, No. 2 seed Roberto Bautista Agut is one of the ATP World Tour’s most consistent players. He has earned 40 or more wins and enjoyed Top 25 finishes in the year-end ATP Rankings in each of the past four seasons. Bautista Agut, 30, won the biggest of his eight tour-level titles at Dubai on 3 March.

5) On the Rise: No. 3 seed Diego Schwartzman has achieved a new career-high ATP Ranking 15 times since the start of 2017, peaking at No. 15 on 2 April. Schwartzman did not drop a set en route to his first ATP World Tour 500-level title at Rio de Janeiro on 25 February.

6) Asian Sensation: Hyeon Chung of South Korea is 18-7 this season after ending 2017 by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals title. Chung’s ATP Rankings rise began at 2017 Munich, where he reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final as the World No. 78. He returns to Munich this week as the No. 4 seed.

7) 300 Wins: No. 5 seed Fabio Fognini is one win from 300 at the tour-level for his career. The 2014 Munich finalist bids to become the fourth Italian player to win 300 matches. Retired players Corrado Barazzutti and Adriano Panatta reached the milestone, while Andreas Seppi earned his tour-level victory in 2016.

8) Monfils in Munich: No. 7 seed Gael Monfils comes back to the ATP World Tour this week. The Frenchman returned from a right knee injury to win his seventh ATP World Tour title at Doha in January. But Monfils, who hurt his back at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, has not played since 13 March.

9) Doubles Details: Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo are co-No. 1s in the ATP Doubles Rankings. They are joined in the field by Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald, who are 20-8 with three ATP World Tour titles since debuting as a team last August.

10) 39 & Counting: Kohlschreiber faces a stern test in the opening round against 39-year-old Croatian Ivo Karlovic. In Houston, the 6’11” right-hander became the oldest player to advance to an ATP World Tour semi-final since Jimmy Connors at San Francisco in 1993. Kohlschreiber leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-2.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN ISTANBUL

1) The Champ is Here: World No. 4 Marin Cilic returns to Istanbul as the No. 1 seed. He took a wild card in 2017 and did not drop a set en route to the title, including victories over this year’s No. 2 seed Damir Dzumhur, last year’s No. 1 seed Milos Raonic and 2016 champion Diego Schwartzman. The Croat has won an ATP World Tour title in 10 straight seasons and is seeking his first championship of 2018.

2) Three’s a Crowd: After reaching finals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, Cilic achieved a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings on 29 January. Cilic became the 16th World No. 3 since 25 July 2005. Only four players have been in the Top 2 since that date 13 years ago: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Alexander Zverev, who is competing in Munich, is the current World No. 3.

3) Determined Damir: Dzumhur ended 2017 on a 24-7 run, highlighted by his first two ATP World Tour titles at St. Petersburg and Moscow. The Bosnia & Herzegovina native reached the quarter-finals this year in Montpellier and Marseille.

4) Bernie’s Back: Tomic accepted a wild card into Istanbul and is playing at the event for the third straight season. Still only 25 years old, Tomic failed to qualify at the Australian Open and has played only one ATP Challenger Tour match since then. But Tomic has captured three ATP World Tour titles in his career and finished runner-up twice.

5) Italians in Istanbul: Four Italians are competing in Istanbul this week: No. 3 seed Andreas Seppi, No. 5 seed Paolo Lorenzi, 22-year-old Matteo Berrettini and Thomas Fabbiano. Seppi lost to another Italian, Cecchinato, in the Budapest semi-finals on Saturday, his second semi-final of the season.

6) Feet of Clay: No. 4 seed Aljaz Bedene won 16 straight clay-court matches overall in April 2017. He’s back to his best on clay in 2018 with runs to the Buenos Aires final, Rio de Janeiro quarter-finals and Budapest semi-finals. Bedene, who will resume that semi-final against Aussie John Millman on Sunday, is seeking his first ATP World Tour title in Budapest this weekend.

7) 500 Wins Club: Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny is three tour-level wins from 500 for his career. Youzhny is hoping to join former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov (609 victories) as the second Russian player to win at least 500 matches. Youzhny, who turns 36 in June, has captured 10 ATP World Tour titles.

8) Two Turks: Wild cards Marsel Ilhan and Cem Ilkel will represent Turkey at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open this week. While Ilhan is a former Top 100 player, Ilkel is seeking his first ATP World Tour victory. Ilkel is 0-7 overall at this level, including Istanbul losses in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

9) International Flair: Top seeds Ben McLachlan and Nicholas Monroe lead the doubles field in Istanbul. Born in New Zealand and educated in California, McLachlan represents Japan. The 25-year-old won his first ATP World Tour title at Tokyo last October with countryman Yasutaka Uchiyama.

10) Millman Rising: Millman managed to win just three tour-level matches in 2017 after spending the beginning of the season battling injury. But the Aussie is off to a strong start in 2018, claiming eight tour-level victories thus far as well as triumphing at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Kyoto, Japan. He is tied at a set apiece in the Budapest semi-finals, which will be completed Sunday ahead of the championship match.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN ESTORIL

1) The Champ is Here: The second-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta is 11-2 at the Millennium Estoril Open and will have appeared at all four editions of the event. He reached the semi-finals in 2015 and the final in 2016 before winning the 2017 title without dropping a set. Following a run to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami semi-finals, Carreno Busta reached the Barcelona semi-finals before losing to #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.

2) Greece’s #NextGenATP Star: Stefanos Tsitsipas is only 19, but he’s already the highest-ranked Greek in ATP World Tour history. This Monday, the former World No. 1 junior will achieve a new career-high ATP Ranking for the seventh time in 2018. He beat No. 7 Dominic Thiem on Friday for the biggest win of his career before ousting Carreno Busta to advance to his maiden tour-level final, in which he will play World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

3) Big Foe on the Come Up: #NextGenATP American FrancesTiafoe is 11-6 this season after starting his career 9-29. Tiafoe followed his first semi-final and final with his first title at Delray Beach on 25 February, becoming the youngest American champion on the ATP World Tour since 19-year-old Andy Roddick won at Houston in 2002. Tiafoe earned the first clay-court tour-level win of his career in Houston on 9 April.

4) De Minaur Delivers: #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur made history on home soil in January with runs to the Brisbane semi-finals and Sydney final. The Aussie, now 19, became the youngest semi-finalist in Brisbane history and the youngest player to reach semi-finals in consecutive weeks since 18-year-old Rafael Nadal in 2005.

5) Elite Eight: No. 1 seed Kevin Anderson is ranked a career-high No. 8 after starting the year 17-5. Anderson has reached three finals in 2018, highlighted by his triumph at the New York Open. He beat Carreno Busta in a third-set tie-break at Indian Wells before losing to him in a third-set tie-break at Miami.

6) Pride of Portugal: Joao Sousa reached a career-high No. 28 in the ATP Rankings in 2016 and is the highest-ranked Portuguese player in ATP World Tour history. The 29-year-old Sousa seeks his maiden victory at the Millennium Estoril Open (0-3).

7) Career Year: No. 3 seed Kyle Edmund reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, ended Andy Murray’s 12-year reign as the No. 1 Brit in the ATP Rankings on 5 March, then advanced to his first ATP World Tour final at Marrakech earlier this month. 

8) Remarkable Comeback: Andujar used a protected ranking to enter both Marrakech and Estoril after undergoing three right elbow surgeries. As the World No. 355, Andujar won the Marrakech title to become the lowest-ranked champion on the ATP World Tour since No. 550 Lleyton Hewitt triumphed at Adelaide in 1998.

9) Speaking of Hewitt: De Minaur grew up idolizing Hewitt, who is travelling with the teen this season and will play doubles with him this week. Hewitt last played singles at the 2016 Australian Open, but has played doubles with countrymen John Peers, Jordan Thompson and Sam Groth since then.

10) In-Form Chilean: One of the most dangerous unseeded players in the field is Chilean Nicolas Jarry. The 22-year-old had just five tour-level wins prior to this season, but he has earned 14 already in 2018, making his first quarter-final in Quito, semi-final in Rio de Janeiro and final in Sao Paulo.

Not a lot has gone wrong for #NextGenATP Stefanos Tsitsipas at this week’s Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell — except for losing his shoe in the middle of a point.

The 19-year-old was leading 3-0 in the opening set against Pablo Carreno Busta on Saturday and held a 15/30 advantage on the Spaniard’s serve. But when Tsitsipas slid to his right to whip a heavy forehand high over the net, his left shoe slipped off. While his shot landed in, the teenager was unable to win the point.

“Not sure I’ve ever seen that, especially on a clay court,” former World No. 4 James Blake said with a chuckle while commentating on the match on Tennis Channel. “He might need to tie those a little tighter!”

And while he let slip the opening in Carreno Busta’s service game, it did not stop Tsitsipas from regrouping to become the first Greek man to reach an ATP World Tour final since Nicholas Kalogeropoulos in 1973 (Des Moines, Iowa).

“I cannot explain it. [It was] probably because of the shoelaces,” Tsitsipas said. “I should tie my shoelaces more.”

It is not the first time Tsitsipas has had a shoe malfunction in the middle of a match, either. In last year’s Antwerp quarter-finals, the Greek needed his Dad’s shoelaces to finish off a victory against Belgian David Goffin. Two shoe incidents on the ATP World Tour, two triumphs for Tsitsipas.