Matteo Gigante was down and out within the second spherical of qualifying on the Tenerife Challenger-3. Following a straight-sets defeat in opposition to Giovanni Fonio, it appeared the Italian was off to his subsequent event. But little did he know what the remainder of the week held for him.

After receiving a fortunate loser spot within the Tenerife fundamental draw, Gigante went on a run to gather his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title. In the ultimate, he defeated countryman Stefano Travaglia 6-3, 6-2 in only one hour, 10 minutes.

“I’m so proud, I played amazing tennis this week,” Gigante stated. “[The final] was against a good friend, when we are in Rome we practise every day. It’s difficult mentally but I’m so happy.”

The 21-year-old is the primary fortunate loser champion on the Challenger Tour since 2018, when Tommy Paul received in Charlottesville and simply the sixteenth fortunate loser champion in Challenger historical past.

A rain-delayed quarter-final, which was halted at 1-1, pressured Gigante to spend nearly 4 hours on courtroom Saturday, together with a comeback 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 semi-final victory over Riccardo Bonadio.

Matteo Gigante claims the Challenger 75 occasion in Tenerife.» />
Matteo Gigante claims the Challenger 75 occasion in Tenerife. Credit: Joana Wallmeier

Gigante provides his title to a plethora of younger Italian stars who’re discovering early success on the Challenger Tour. In 2022, seven Italian #NextGenATP gamers collected Challenger titles: Matteo Arnaldi, Mattia Bellucci, Flavio Cobolli, Francesco Maestrelli, Lorenzo Musetti, Luca Nardi, and Francesco Passaro. The Rome-native Gigante is the third #NextGenATP winner of this season, becoming a member of Frenchmen Arthur Fils and Arthur Cazaux.

Following his Challenger 75 title on the Canary island, the lefty rises to a career-high No. 194 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

At the Vitas Gerulaitis Cup in Vilnius, Lithuania, Liam Broady claimed his first Challenger title since September 2021 (Biel). The British lefty didn’t drop a set all week and downed Czech Zdenek Kolar 6-4, 6-4 within the championship match.

Liam Broady on the 2023 Vilnius Challenger.» />
Liam Broady on the 2023 Vilnius Challenger. Credit: Saulius Čirba

Broady, 29, is a former junior World No. 2 and was a finalist on the 2011 Wimbledon and 2012 US Open boys’ singles occasions.

In 2022, Broady made his career-best Grand Slam end result by reaching the third spherical at Wimbledon (l. de Minaur), the place he earned a wild card and received back-to-back 5 setters, together with in opposition to twelfth seed Diego Schwartzman.

This is what it means.@Liambroady | #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/xWtOkVAThH

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 12, 2023