Mayer Claims Ninth Challenger Title In Manerbio

A LOOK BACK
Internazionali di Tennis Manerbio (Manerbio, Italy): Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer has fallen on hard times since soaring to a career-high World No. 21 in the Emirates ATP Rankings last June, having dropped out of the Top 100 just last month. But the 29 year old is well on his way to rediscovering his top form after surging to the ATP Challenger Tour title in Manerbio on Sunday. Fifth seed Mayer claimed his ninth Challenger crown 7-6(3), 7-5 over Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in one hour and 33 minutes. He had earned his spot in the final with a pair of comeback victories over top seed Gerald Melzer in the quarters and Matteo Donati in the semis. Argentina has now accounted for 10 titlists this year, which leads the ATP Challenger Tour. Mayer joins Facundo Bagnis (3 titles), Guido Andreozzi (2), Horacio Zeballos (2), Nicolas Kicker (1) and Carlos Berlocq (1).

A LOOK AHEAD
August concludes with three tournaments in three continents. Joao Souza leads the field at the inaugural event in Curitiba, Brazil, where recent 400 match winner Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo is seeded third. Gonzalo Lama, who is coached by former World No. 5 Fernando Gonzalez, is seeded fourth. Meanwhile, the fourth Challenger event this year in Bangkok features 18-time Challenger winner Go Soeda as the top seed and #NextGen star Duckhee Lee seeded third, while World No. 88 Gerald Melzer leads the pack in Como, Italy. Leonardo Mayer will look to go back-to-back on Italian soil, while #NextGen stars Andrey Rublev and Elias Ymer seek their second titles of the year.

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