July is the month of the lucky loser on the ATP World Tour. Seven days after falling in the final round of qualifying, Leonardo Mayer was the last man standing at the German Tennis Championships 2017 on Sunday, defeating Florian Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in Hamburg.

Leonardo, whose lone previous ATP World Tour title came at the Am Rothenbaum in 2014, needed one hour and 57 minutes to dismiss Florian, firing 44 total winners, including 28 off his forehand wing.

It marks the second straight week that a lucky loser has lifted an ATP World Tour trophy, following #NextGenATP Andrey Rublev’s maiden triumph in Umag. Leonardo fell to German 16-year-old Rudolf Molleker last Sunday, before gaining entry into the main draw when Martin Klizan withdrew due to a calf injury.

“It’s amazing to win in Hamburg again,” said Leonardo, who was joined by his wife Milagros and son Valentino after the match. “It’s like home here and I feel very comfortable. I like the city and I always play well here.

“It’s something special about this sport. I lost in qualifying and then beat the No. 1 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. It also happened last week in Umag with Rublev. Now I took the opportunity.”

At No. 138 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, he is the lowest-ranked winner since Florian won in Halle at No. 192 last year. Leonardo will take home 500 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €323,145 in prize money, returning to the Top 50 for the first time since May 2016. Germany’s Mayer, who was trying to win his third ATP World Tour title, will receive 300 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €158,320 in prize money.

The two exchanged breaks midway through the first set before Leonardo broke to take the first set when Florian pulled a volley wide.

The German veteran fought back, though, breaking in the ninth game of the second set and forcing the decider with an ace. In the third set, though, Leonardo battled through a rough beginning, saving break points in two consecutive service game. Leonardo then broke for 5-3 and clinched the title on his first match point.

“I’m very happy with my performance this week, especially to be in the final of a 500 tournament,” said Florian, who was bidding to become the first German to win in Hamburg since Michael Stich in 1993. “It was a big match and a big fight. A very nice week for me. Maybe I got a little tired at the end and Leo played incredibly well. He deserved to win.”

In a battle of big servers, John Isner again looked nearly impeccable on serve on Saturday at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The second seed blitzed past the third-seeded Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-2 in just 75 minutes to reach his seventh Atlanta final in the past eight years.

Isner reeled off his seventh consecutive win and again didn’t drop serve, erasing all four break points. The 6’10” American has now won seven consecutive matches and held for 69 straight service games, dating back to his title run last week at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport.

“It was a very good match. Absolutely nothing to complain about today. On and off the court in pretty quick fashion and I certainly will be ready to go tomorrow,” Isner said. “I feel great physically, maybe the best I have felt in quite sometime. More importantly than that I am pretty confident as well.” 

Isner will try to win his eighth consecutive match and his fourth Atlanta title on Sunday when he faces compatriot Ryan Harrison or Brit Kyle Edmund, who face off in Saturday’s second semi-final, scheduled for 7 p.m. local time.

Muller, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals earlier this month, had also been nearly untouchable on serve on the Atlanta hard courts. The left-hander had won all 24 of his service games and had erased all six break points. Through his first two matches, Muller had even out-aced Isner, 36 to 23.

But Isner, a three-time Atlanta champion, stepped up and played aggressively while returning. He broke in the third game to lead 2-1.

In the second set, Isner broke Muller twice and then erased three break points after falling down 0/40 while serving for the match at 5-2.

“He made it very tough for me today. I don’t feel like I played a bad match. I maybe didn’t serve well enough today but it’s also because of him, he put a lot of pressure on me,” said Muller, who fell to 2-4 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Isner. “It was very tough out there today. All credit to him. He played a great match.”

Muller, a 2012 Atlanta finalist, reached his fourth Atlanta semi-final. “It’s a perfect start to the hard-court season. I think I made the right choice to come here and get ready for the other tournaments, play in the heat, play on the hard courts,” Muller said. “I got two wins, another semi-final, so it’s all good.”