French teen Luca Van Assche and Australian Max Purcell etched their names into the ATP Challenger Tour file books this week.
Van Assche, 18, saved two championship factors towards countryman Ugo Humbert to win the longest Challenger closing in historical past (three hours, 56 minutes) on the Terega Open Pau Pyrenees. Purcell prolonged his profitable streak to fifteen by triumphing for a 3rd consecutive week in India. American Aleksandar Kovacevic additionally collected a title of his personal on the Texas Tennis Classic.
In the Pau Challenger 125 closing in southern France, house hope Van Assche rallied from a double break down at 0-3 within the closing set and once more from 4/6 within the deciding-set tie-break earlier than profitable 4 consecutive factors to outlive Humbert 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(6) and seize his second Challenger title.
“It was a crazy match, an amazing fight against Ugo,” Van Assche mentioned. “I’m very completely satisfied. Plenty of feelings throughout this match. I used to be main, then shedding. I used to be match level up, then match level down. It was a implausible match with nice help from the group.
“At 4/6 in the tie-break, I was hoping he wouldn’t hit an ace! I was playing point by point, just focussing on every point. I was a little bit exhausted so I was not thinking too much, just playing my game.”
Math + Tennis = Winning Formula For Van Assche
Van Assche, who gained the Maia Challenger in 2022, is the fourth Frenchman to win a number of Challenger titles earlier than turning 19, becoming a member of Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, and Fabrice Santoro. The Belgian-born participant is the fifth #NextGenATP Challenger champion of the yr and joins Arthur Fils as the one teenage champions of 2023.
En path to the title, Van Assche wanted deciding units in 4 of his 5 matches and ousted the Top 3 seeds: Arthur Rinderknech, Humbert, and Gijs Brouwer. The teen rises to a career-high No. 110 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Luca Van Assche triumphs on the Challenger 125 in Pau, France. Credit: Alexis Atteret
There was no stopping Max Purcell on the Pune Metropolitan Region Challenger. After dropping the opening set in his first-round match towards Mukund Sasikumar, the 24-year-old didn’t lose a set the remainder of the week to assert a 3rd consecutive Challenger title (Chennai, Bengaluru). In the championship match, the third seed defeated 19-year-old Italian Luca Nardi 6-2, 6-3.
“It’s great to win three in a row,” Purcell mentioned. “In tough, hot conditions too, I recovered well since the first week and now I’m thrilled to move into the Top 100.”
Three weeks in the past, Purcell was No. 203 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, however following his trio of titles in India, the Sydney native climbs to a career-high 95.
Max Purcell in motion on the Challenger 100 occasion in Pune. Credit: Pune Metropolitan Region Challenger
The 2022 Wimbledon doubles champion (w/ Matthew Ebden) is the 14th participant to assert three consecutive Challenger titles and the primary since Ben Shelton did so this previous season (Charlottesville, Knoxville, Champaign). Purcell is the primary Australian to attain the feat in Challenger historical past.
At the Texas Tennis Classic in Waco, third seed Kovacevic dropped only one set en path to his second Challenger title of the season. The 24-year-old defeated Alexandre Muller within the closing 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
In the semi-finals, the American avenged his loss from final week’s Monterrey Challenger to Borna Gojo, who defeated him within the quarter-finals in Mexico en path to the title.
This previous month, Kovacevic gained his maiden Challenger title in Cleveland, the place he defeated Wu Yibing in an exciting championship match earlier than the Chinese star gained the ATP 250 occasion in Dallas the next week.
Now at a career-high 107, the previous University of Illinois standout Kovacevic units his sights on cracking the Top 100 on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion in Indian Wells, the place he acquired a main-draw wild card.
Source web site: www.atptour.com
