Tipsarevic Takes Top Honours Once Again In Qingdao
A LOOK BACK
China International Challenger Qingdao 2017 (Qingdao, China): Janko Tipsarevic remains unbeaten on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2017, having retained his title in Qingdao. The Serbian second seed clinched his 14th Challenger crown with a 6-3, 7-6(9), victory over qualifier Oscar Otte to move to 15-0 for the season at the level. Tipsarevic’s reward for a third Challenger trophy in 2017, winning 30 of 31 sets this campaign, is an 18-place rise to No. 71 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
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The former World No. 8 needed seven match points to fend off the resilient Otte, who enjoyed a breakout week in China.
Heading into the tournament, Otte had only won one match on the ATP Challenger Tour, but stormed into the semi-finals to the loss of just four games. There, he navigated past #NextGenATP Frenchman Quentin Halys 7-5, 6-4, to reach his maiden Challenger final. As a result, Otte gained more than 100 spots to secure a career-high ranking of World No. 263.
.@TipsarevicJanko successfully defends his title in Qingdao, needing seven match points to edge #Otte 63 76(9). 14th #ATPChallenger title. pic.twitter.com/48VbbKnc1z
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 23, 2017
2017 Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open (Florida, U.S.A.): In 2015, Frances Tiafoe qualified for his first Challenger event in Sarasota. Fast forward two seasons and the American lifted a third Challenger title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over countryman Tennys Sandgren.
A first clay-court trophy means Tiafoe is the fourth American to be crowned champion in 2017, joining Ryan Harrison (Dallas, U.S.A.), Noah Rubin (Launceston, Australia) and Sandgren (Tempe, U.S.A). The Sarasota triumph earns the 19 year old a career-high of No. 72 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and also sees Tiafoe become the second-youngest titlist of the year, at 19 years and three months, behind only Denis Shapovalov in Drummondville, Canada.
2017 Santaizi Challenger (Taipei, Taiwan): Local favourite Yen-Hsun Lu won an unrivalled 27th Challenger title at his hometown tournament. The 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Tatsuma Ito in Sunday’s final means Lu has secured a Challenger title for the 14th consecutive season and boosts his ranking to No. 55.
Very happy to win the title at my home town @ATPChallenger tournament, thank you everybody for the support! #27 #TeamLu ???? pic.twitter.com/6vQVy32OUd
— Rendy Lu (@LuRendy) April 23, 2017
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Janko Tipsarevic: “I had a lot of expectations as I feel I’m playing a lot better than last year. I had some tough opponents here, so I’m extremely happy to defend my title without dropping a set.
“I felt I was more aggressive than him in the key moments,” added Tipsarevic, regarding his final victory over Otte. “I saw his other matches and I don’t think his opponents were putting enough pressure on him. When he’s dictating he’s very good, but when you take away his time, he panics a little bit. I think I played a very good match.
“If I am injury free, my goal for the end of the season would be around No. 30 in the rankings. I haven’t had a match victory since January, so winning the final like this, saving the match points, the stress, I feel it will give me huge confidence for the next tournament.”
Yen-Hsun Lu: “It’s a special feeling to win a title in your home town. You don’t get many chances to play at home, this means everything. I’m very happy and excited to take this trophy at home.”
A LOOK AHEAD
A clay-court treble makes up the schedule on the ATP Challenger Tour this week. The 2017 Kunming Challenger (Anning, China) has reigning champion Jordan Thompson playing as top seed for the $150,000 event.
Qingdao finalists Tipsarevic and Otte will hope to repeat their deep runs in Anning, while #NextGenATP players Quentin Halys and Akira Santillan face each other in the opening round.
The $75,000 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger (Florida, U.S.A) welcomes Sarasota champion Tiafoe as the top seed, who was a 2015 and 2016 finalist at the Forestmeadows Tennis Complex. #NextGenATP duo Denis Shapovalov and Stefan Kozlov also join the field.
Over to the Internazionali di Tennis d’Abruzzo (Francavilla, Italy) and World No. 108 Gastao Elias leads the charge for the €43,000 prize money. #NextGenATP prospect Matteo Berrettini will hope to make the most of a wild card on home soil during the inaugural event of this Challenger tournament.
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