Cerundolo Triumphs At Buenos Aires Challenger

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#NextGenATP star Juan Manuel Cerundolo was amongst a trio of gamers to earn their first ATP Challenger Tour titles of the season Sunday. The 20-year-old triumphed on residence soil in Buenos Aires to affix Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (Orleans) and Italian Marco Cecchinato in accumulating their first trophies of the season.

In entrance of an lively Argentine crowd, Cerundolo defeated countryman Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 within the remaining to triumph on the Challenger de Buenos Aires to say his fourth Challenger Tour title.

Following his breakthrough season in 2021, when Cerundolo collected a trio of Challenger titles and gained the ATP 250 occasion in Cordoba, the lefty has battled leg and hip accidents in 2022 which have pressured him to take day off. This week, the 20-year-old returned to the winners’ circle, dropping only one set all week. The title lifts Cerundolo to nineteenth within the Pepperstone ATP Dwell Race To Milan.

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“I’m relieved. I really feel that each one the months of restoration have paid off,” Cerundolo mentioned. “I didn’t anticipate to achieve this degree so quickly. My purpose is to keep up the extent I had on this event. I’m feeling superb, in the present day I used to be capable of run all over the place.

“It’s a plus to play in entrance of your loved ones and your individuals, it offers you additional power. On the similar time, you could have somewhat stress since you need to present your highest degree.”

An all-Argentine remaining stuffed the stands in Buenos Aires. Credit score: Manuel Cortina

Gamers from Argentina have mixed for a season-leading 19 Challenger titles. Cerundolo is the 14th completely different Argentine champion of this yr, tying a Challenger Tour file for probably the most completely different winners from a single nation in a season (USA in 2006, France in 2011).

Ugo Carabelli, 23, was competing in his fourth Challenger remaining of the season. Following his title in Lima this previous month, the Buenos Aires native reached a career-high 96 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

On the Open d’Orleans, Barrere gained the all-French remaining, defeating Quentin Halys 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to seize his fourth Challenger title.

Barrere is the primary Challenger champion this yr to defeat 4 Prime-100 gamers en path to the title (fifth since 2010). After a first-round victory over Damir Dzumhur, the 28-year-old ousted Marton Fucsovics, Richard Gasquet, Hugo Gaston, and Halys to carry the trophy on the indoor hard-court occasion.

In 2019, Barrere completed runner-up on the Orleans Challenger on residence soil, a run that lifted him to a career-high No. 80. After being topped champion this week, the Frenchman rises to No. 116.

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Halys was competing in his sixth Challenger remaining of the season. The 25-year-old gained the Pau and Lille Challengers within the spring and this previous month, he reached a career-high mark No. 71.

In doubles motion in Orleans, high seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin have been topped champions. Mahut, former World No. 1 in doubles, and Roger-Vasselin, former World No. 6 doubles participant, have earned seven Tour-level doubles titles as a pair.

On the clay-courts of Lisbon, Portugal, Italian Marco Cecchinato didn’t drop a set all week en path to capturing the Del Monte Lisboa Belem Open title, defeating Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-3 within the remaining.

Cecchinato, who reached a career-high 16 in 2019, claimed his first Challenger title since March 2018. The 30-year-old is a three-time Tour titlist (Budapest, Umag, Buenos Aires).

“I’m very completely happy to win the title. It’s essential for me as a result of this yr has been a troublesome yr,” Cecchinato mentioned. “I began the yr with an harm and after three months, I began to play once more.

“This week, I performed unbelievable tennis… It was not simple, each match was powerful, however I used to be feeling good on courtroom from the primary spherical and in the present day I used to be very focussed.”

Marco Cecchinato in motion throughout the Lisbon Challenger remaining. Credit score: Beatriz Ruivo

In 2018, Cecchinato reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, the place he defeated Novak Djokovic within the quarter-finals earlier than falling to Dominic Thiem. Because the-then World No. 72, Cecchinato grew to become the lowest-ranked Roland Garros semi-finalist since Andrei Medvedev (No. 100) in 1999.

Van Assche, 18, superior via qualifying en path to his first Challenger remaining, a run that lifts him to a career-high No. 231 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Frenchman additionally reached the semi-finals on the Blois Challenger in June (l. Alexandre Muller).

The LTP Males’s Open in Charleston, South Carolina, scheduled to complete 2 October, was canceled on Wednesday because of the potential impression of Hurricane Ian.

Did You Know?
On Sunday, Yoshihito Nishioka and Marc-Andrea Huesler added to the listing of gamers to win on the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour in 2022. Nishioka, who gained the Columbus Challenger in January, captured the title on the Eugene Korea Open Tennis Championships. Huesler, who claimed two Challenger titles in April (Mexico Metropolis and Aguascalientes), was topped champion on the Sofia Open. 4 different gamers have claimed a Tour-level title and Challenger title this season: Borna Coric, Holger Rune, Francisco Cerundolo, and Lorenzo Musetti.