St Brieuc

2015 Napoli, Leon, Batman and St. Brieuc Challenger Recaps
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

Napoli

This tournament proved to be harsh on the seeds, with many surprises. Top seed Andrey Golubev had an early second round exit against wild card Matteo Donati, 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2. Third seed Blaz Rola went out in the first round against another wild card, Gianluigi Quinzi, 6-3 6-1. To top off a successful showing for the home players in the early rounds, Andrea Arnaboldi took out fifth seed Thiemo de Bakker in the first round, 6-2 3-6 6-3. Potito Starace almost joined that list, but he fell to second seed Filip Krajinovic after missing a spectacular eight match points in the second set, losing 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2. Krajinovic didn’t capitalize on being given a second chance in the tournament, losing 6-2 6-2 to veteran Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the next round.

Qualifier Thomas Fabbiano took out sixth seed Norbert Gombos 7-5 6-3 in the second round, after which he continued his surprise run by beating last week’s Raanana winner Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 5-7 6-2. However, in the semi-final he was stopped convincingly by Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, who won 6-0 7-5. In the top half Donati had continued his surprise run by beating Marco Cecchinato 7-6(5) 6-2 for a place in his first ever Challenger final. There Munoz-De La Nava was way too strong, however, claiming the title and the second of his career after a 6-2 6-1 beatdown. The victory saw him rose fifty-four ranking spots to #145, while Donati rose more than a hundred spots to a career high #247.

Leon

Michal Przysiezny

Sixth seed Michal Przysiezny experienced one of his many disappointed losses of the past year, going out in the first round against qualifier Nicolas Barrientos, 6-4 6-3. In contrast to the happenings in Napoli, here the seeds held up very nicely, with four of them making up the semi-final line-up. Top seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras faced fifth seed Horacio Zeballos and they made it a memorable encounter, with Menendez-Maceiras prevailing after a marathon match, 7-6(3) 5-7 6-4. Fourth seed Austin Krajicek took out second seed Alejandro Falla 6-1 7-6(3), setting us up for another epic encounter in the final, one that Krajicek won 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-4. The victory meant a new career high ranking for Krajicek, rising twenty-one spots to #121. Menendez-Maceiras as well locked up a new career high ranking, rising eight spots to #115.

Batman

Second seed Dudi Sela made a better start to this tournament, after retiring from his home event at Raanana last week due to dizziness, booking two easy straight set victories to notch up a place in the quarterfinals. The most impressive player however was top seed Blaz Kavcic, who first took out fifth seed Radu Albot 6-3 6-0 in the quarterfinal, after which he laid down the hammer even worse on Hiroki Moriya, trashing him 6-1 6-0 to book a place in the final. Sela faced Saketh Myneni in the semi-final, beating him 6-4 6-3 to set up a meeting with the on fire Kavcic. There Sela showed that he was the right man to stop Kavcic’s impressive run, beating him 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 in a high quality affair. The victory meant Sela’s seventeenth (!) Challenger title, putting him second on the all-time list, passing Takao Suzuki and Go Soeda, while trailing Yen-Hsun Lu’s record of twenty-one titles. It also meant a return to the top 100, rising nineteen spots to #93. Kavcic rose eight spots to #77.

And the winner of #ATP #Challenger #Batman is Dudi #Sela! He d Blaz #Kavcic 67 63 63. Our congratulations! pic.twitter.com/qUwdoqHQlM

— youtennis.net (@youtennisnet) April 12, 2015

St. Brieuc

Top seed Lucas Pouille had a lot more troubles in the early rounds than he wanted to experience, coming through 7-5 3-6 7-6(4) and 6-4 3-6 6-3 in his first two rounds. He had less troubles in the quarterfinal, but had to bow for third seed Nicolas Mahut in the semi-final, 7-5 6-4. In the bottom half second seed Andreas Beck fell to Jesse Huta Galung in the second round, 6-3 6-4. Huta Galung in his return had to retire during his match against fifth seed Yuichi Sugita in the next round, due to a right calf injury. Sugita easily beat qualifier Constant Lestienne for a place in the final, 6-4 6-2. Here Nicolas Mahut barely edged him out in a very close encounter, 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4. It meant the twelfth Challenger title for the Frenchman, which saw him get close to a return into the top 100, rising fifteen spots to #109. Sugita rose eighteen spots to #140.

April 2013 Challenger Tour Recap: Young and Harrison Return to the Winners circle, Teen Vesely Takes a Title

Leon Challenger (April 1-April 7, 2013)

Donald Young won his first event of 2013 and his 6th career challenger in Leon, Mexico on hard courts over Jimmy Wang. Formerly top 50, Young is trying to work his way back to ATP level action on the challenger circuit, and he moved back towards the top 150 with this title. Young beat Amir Weintraub in the semis while Wang beat Dudi Sela. The top two Israeli tennis players were both semifinalists. Young also beat top seed Yen-Hsun Lu in the quarterfinals.

St Brieuc Challenger (April 1-April 7, 2013)

Jesse Huta Galung won his 2nd challenger of 2013 and his 2nd challenger in France on hard courts in St. Brieuc. Galung beat Frenchmen Kenny De Schepper in the final and Jan Mertl in the semis, while De Schepper beat Martin Fischer.

Barranquilla Challenger (April 8-April 14, 2013)

Federico Del Bonis also won his 2nd challenger of 2013, again on clay, over countryman Facundo Bagnis. Del Bonis beat Pedro Sousa in the semis, while Bagnis beat Arthur De Greef and also upset top seed Santiago Giraldo in the second round.

Guadalajara Challenger (April 8-April 14, 2013)

Veteran Alex Bogomolov won the 100k challenger on hard courts in Guadalajara, Mexico, triumphing over Rajeev Ram from a set down, after beating top seed Yen-Hsun Lu and then Adrian Mannarino in the semis. Ram beat Vasek Pospisil in the semis.

Mersin Challenger (April 8-April 14, 2013)

In Mersin, Turkey, on clay, the highest ranked teen in the ATP rankings, Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic (currently 162), won the title over veteran German Simon Greul. Vesely beat Bastian Knittel in the semis while Greul toughed it out over Stephane Robert.

Itajai Challenger (April 8-April 14, 2013)

Dutra Silva

In Brazil, on clay, Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva beat Jozef Kovalik to capture the title. Dutra Silva is at a career high ranking of 86 and continues to improve. He beat Gastao Elias in the semis while Kovalik, a qualifier, upset Rui Machado in the second round and beat Steven Diez in the semis.

Mexico City Challenger (April 15-April 21, 2013)

In Mexico City on hard courts, Andrej Martin, who is at a career high ranking of 156, beat Adrian Mannarino and in fact avenged his loss to Mannarino in the Noumea challenger at the start of the year. Martin also beat Michal Przysiezny in the semis while Mannarino beat Dudi Sela.

Panama City Challenger (April 15-April 21, 2013)

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo won the title on clay in Panama, dropping down from struggles on the ATP Tour to find success on the challenger circuit. He beat Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia in the final and Gerald Melzer in the semis. Gonzalez beat Victor Estrella in the semis.

Rome Challenger (April 15-April 21, 2013)

Julian Reister was tops on clay in Rome, beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (who later went on to make the final in Bucharest) after beating Dusan Lajovic in the semis. Reister beat top seed Andrey Kuznetsov in round 2. Garcia-Lopez beat Simon Greul in the semis in what was a successful month of tennis for the veteran German.

Santos Challenger (April 15-April 21,2013)

In Santos, Brazil on clay, Gastao Elias of Portugal got revenge against Rogerio Dutra Silva and took the Santos Challenger. Elias, of course, had lost to Dutra Silva in the semis of the Itajai challenger the previous week. Elias beat Guido Andreozzi in the semis, while Dutra Silva beat Guilherme Clezar.

Sao Paulo 2 Challenger (April 22-April 28, 2013)

Veteran Chilean Paul Capdeville returned to the top 150 and won the clay court Sao Paulo challenger over Renzo Olivo of Argentina. Olivo is 21 and burst into the top 200. He beat Guilherme Clezar in the semis, Clezar’s second straight semi. Capdeville beat Maximo Gonzalez.

Savannah Challenger (April 22-April 28, 2013)

It has been a rough year for Ryan Harrison, but this victory in the Savannah Challenger has to boost his confidence. He is back at the cusp of the top 80 and beat Facundo Arguello, a fellow 20 year old, to take the title. Harrison also beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the semis and Wayne Odesnik in the quarters. Arguello beat Donald Young.