Profitable the title in simply your third ATP Challenger Tour occasion of the yr?
No drawback for Ecuador’s Alvaro Guillen Meza, who was topped champion Saturday on the Lima Challenger, the place he defeated Jamaica’s Blaise Bicknell 7-6(3), 6-1 within the ultimate. The 20-year-old, who’s considered one of 4 Challenger titlists this week, is the youngest champion from Ecuador since Giovanni Lapentti in 2003.
Competing in his eighth Challenger event, Guillen Meza’s capacity to carry his nerve in stress moments all through the week helped him carry the trophy. He fended off 10 of 16 break factors confronted within the second spherical to upset fifth seed Gustavo Heide and towards the 21-year-old Bicknell, Guillen Meza saved all three break factors confronted.
“I needed to keep focussed all week and I managed to win. The reality was [I was] fairly calm, I do not know why,” Guillen Meza stated in Spanish. “It’s a very big day for me and I’m very completely satisfied.”
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Now at a career-high No. 384 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Guillen Meza is the primary NextGenATP Challenger winner from South America in 2023 and the primary Ecuadorian champion this yr. He’s the second-lowest ranked champion of the season, solely behind then-unranked Kei Nishikori, who received the Palmas del Mar Challenger in June.
In different Challenger Tour motion, Spaniard Carlos Taberner collected his sixth title at that degree when he downed countryman Oriol Roca Batalla 6-4, 6-4 within the Schwaben Open ultimate in Augsburg, Germany.
Carlos Taberner wins the Challenger 50 occasion in Augsburg, Germany. Credit score: Andreas Schebesta/Schwaben Open
Saturday marked the 26-year-old’s Taberner first Challenger title since March 2022. Final yr, Taberner reached a career-high No. 85.
A pivotal second for Taberner got here towards Oliver Crawford within the second spherical, when the Valencia native rallied from 0-4 within the ultimate set to remain alive.
“It’s superb as a result of to win titles could be very, very troublesome in tennis as a result of each week, just one man wins the title,” Taberner stated. “It’s an excellent feeling for me as a result of not solely was it a year-and-a-half since I final received a title, but additionally that lengthy since I made the semi-finals. So I’m very completely satisfied for this week and I simply wish to get pleasure from it.”
Frenchman Arthur Weber grew to become the fourth-oldest participant to win his maiden Challenger crown on the Hengqin Worldwide Tennis Challenger. The 31-year-old survived two deciding-set matches to shut the week, defeating Chinese language Taipei’s Jason Jung 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 within the ultimate.
At a career-high No. 307 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Weber is the oldest participant to win a Challenger title in his debut. The lefty got here into Zhuhai having received two ITF World Tennis Tour trophies this season. 
Weber is the fifteenth totally different Frenchman so as to add to his residence nation’s season-leading 20 Challenger titles, inside three of tying Argentina’s report from final yr.
The Challenger 50 occasion in Zhuhai marked the primary event at that degree held in China since October 2019.
German Rudolf Molleker didn’t drop a set all week to be topped champion on the IBG Prague Open by Moneta Cash Financial institution. The fourth seed cruised previous 17-year-old Frenchman Gabriel Debru 6-2, 6-2 within the ultimate to win his first Challenger title since Could 2018.
from Tennis – ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/sI4vKoO
