T44: Bergamo, Charlottesville, Eckental, Guayaquil, Tenerife 2021

[Damian]

CHALLENGER ECKENTAL



Eckental - finał:

Daniel Masur d. [6] Maxime Cressy 64 64 C. Damaske

[Damian]

TENERIFE CHALLENGER



Tenerife - finał:

[1] Tallon Griekspoor d. [2/WC] Feliciano Lopez 64 64 P. Ayala

[Damian]

TROFEO FAIP-PERREL



Bergamo - finał:

[3] Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune d. Cem Ilkel 75 76(6) R. Concas

[DUN I LOVE]

Finał CH w Charlottesville trwa:

https://www.atptour.com/en/atp-challeng ... 1/6055/all

[Damian]

Charlottesville Tennis Challenger



Charlottesville - finał:

[Alt] Stefan Kozlov d. Aleksandar Vukic 62 63 R. Pennington

[Barty]

Kozlan Stefov reaktywacja.

[no-handed backhand]

Zawsze [alt] kojarzył mi się z kimś, kto jest słabszy niż [Q] i nie zasługuje na to żeby być [WC]. Tym większe gratulacje.

[DUN I LOVE]

Kozlan Stefov reaktywacja.

Tak, wyróżniającą się postacią na poziomie CH jest w ostatnich tygodniach Kozłow.

[Damian]

Tallon The Titan: Griekspoor Claims Record Seventh Challenger Title Of 2021

Spoiler:

Dutchman triumphs on hard courts of Tenerife


For many players competing on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning one title in a season is an accomplishment. How about seven?

On Sunday, Tallon Griekspoor did just that. The 25-year-old Dutchman triumphed on the hard courts of Tenerife, Spain, securing his place in the history books. A 6-4, 6-4 victory over Feliciano Lopez gave the Dutchman a single-season record seventh Challenger crown of 2021.

"It's been an amazing season, winning a record seventh title, and an amazing win streak," said Griekspoor after the final. "I'm just really happy with this season and looking forward to next year playing on the ATP Tour."

Griekspoor

Photo: Marta Magni Images / MEF Tennis Events

Not only did Griekspoor become the first player in Challenger history to win seven titles in one year, but he did so in stunning fashion. A 20-match win streak carried him to the winners' circle once again, featuring back-to-back-to-back titles on the clay of Murcia, Napoli-1 and Napoli-2 last month, and a first career hard-court crown on Sunday in Tenerife.

Located just steps from the beach on the picturesque Canary Islands, it was a tennis paradise at the inaugural Tenerife Challenger. The top seed and the player to beat, Griekspoor embraced the pressure all week at the Abama Tennis Academy. It all culminated with consecutive wins over an in-form Altug Celikbilek and former Top 20 Spanish stars Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez.

Griekspoor

Griekspoor, who is projected to rise to a career-high No. 72 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday, is ready to test his talents at the tour-level in 2022. The Haarlem native is no stranger to the bright lights and the big stages, having defeated former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam in 2018. And two months ago, he won his first Grand Slam match at the US Open, outlasting Jan-Lennard Struff in five sets, before battling top seed Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

You May Also Like: Griekspoor's Historic Top 100 Debut: "It's Something You Dream Of As A Kid"
"It’s nice to get the record but all I am trying to do is to improve my game and move up the rankings," Griekspoor told Tennis TourTalk. "I hope it stays for a while. My goal for this year was to end the year in the Top 100. I did well on that. Top 50 is probably the next goal and let’s see how far I can get. I really don’t want to put a number on it. Let’s see what’s possible and I am confident in myself. I have had a good time on the Challenger Tour but I think it’s time for the next step, playing ATP Tour events. I am really looking forward to that and can’t wait to start."

Griekspoor hopes to end his ATP Challenger Tour career with an eighth title of 2021, as he concludes his remarkable campaign next week in Bratislava.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/grieksp ... challenger

[Damian]

Challenger Ciudad de Guayaquil



Guayaquil - finał:

Alejandro Tabilo d. Jesper De Jong 61 75 J. Pinoargote

[Damian]

Challenger Chat: Inside Kozlov's Journey Back To Titletown

Spoiler:

Stefan Kozlov wins his second title of the year in Charlottesville

For most players competing on the ATP Challenger Tour, the road to the top is not a straight line. There are many bumps and obstacles along the way. While the journey may become longer and more complex, it is that exact process that hardens even the toughest of competitors and shapes who they become both on and off the court.

Stefan Kozlov knows this firsthand. After many years fighting for belief and purpose on the court, the 23-year-old American is steadily carving his own path up the FedEx ATP Rankings once again. Kozlov, who achieved a career-high No. 115 in 2017, is back inside the Top 200 for the first time in three years after lifting the trophy at the Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger.

Having fallen as low as No. 550 exactly two years ago, this moment takes on added significance for the Florida resident. He dropped just one set en route to securing his second Challenger title of the year, defeating Australia's Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday.

Kozlov, a former junior No. 3, had a world of expectations heaped on him from a young age. And when he became one of the youngest players to advance to a Challenger final, as a 16-year-old in Sacramento in 2014, it cemented that projection of becoming the next big star of American tennis.

But Kozlov experienced his share of bumps in the road, which forced him to dig deep and fight through the tough times, both between the lines and away from the court. Now, he says he's better for it. A more mature and complete player, both mentally and physically, he is riding a wave of momentum that has seen him win 14 of 15 matches at this level and rise to No. 188 in the world.

Kozlov

The American spoke about his journey with broadcaster Mike Cation following the Charlottesville final...

Congrats Koz. You've been through quite the long journey. This three-month stretch has been remarkable. How have you done it seemingly so quickly?
It's been a long, long process. Like I said a couple days ago in an interview, it's a lot of losses and hard times. I know there are many people out there with bigger problems than I have, but for me I went through many issues - life issues - and I just came out stronger. I take the lessons with every defeat and the last couple months I've put myself around some very knowledgable people, who have helped me to figure out my strengths and weaknesses.

What has it been specifically for you? Has it been some fitness or all mental?
Mental is a big part of it. Fitness is at a high level for me, but I have a long way to go with it. Just playing in the high heat moments in Florida or Australia. It's going to be the next step for sure. Mentally, it's just being more angry. I'm coming out here now and trying to rip your head off. I'm establishing myself and in the past I would let off the gas too early. These guys are all good and it's more or less a UFC fight in a way. That's helped me be at my best.

How do you sustain that?
From Alexander Zverev to Reilly Opelka, I grew up with those guys, but I completely fell off the mountain while they kept rising. I'm still very far off from them, but that's my goal, to compete with those guys again. That's what drives me. It would be a pretty cool story.


What was your gameplan coming into this final again Vukic?
It's very simple. What does Vukic want to come out and do today? He wants to rip inside-in and inside-out forehands and have long points. I have a general idea of how he wants to play. It's a combination of playing my game and making them uncomfortable. I'm not going to just play my game first point to last point. Everyone has these things you have to be aware of.

There aren't many players that have the skillset to do that. You have variety. A lot of it. When you approach a match, how do you say that this gameplan is going to work today and I'm going to use this strategy one day and a different one the next day?
For me, it's a big deal playing in these tournaments and playing in the later rounds. It's nerve-wracking. You start to forget about simple things. Like on Saturday, I didn't make adjustments in the second set. I kept hitting the ball too short. It's one thing talking about it and another being out there and trying to make those adjustments. I try to fall back to hitting big balls and sneaking in, because that gives me the best chance. But it's a huge difference being out there and having the awareness.

When people say that I have so much variety, I don't really know what that means. It's foreign to me, because it's just the way I was taught the game. That's who I am. I know I can hit big and then use my slice, but my weapons are a huge thing. Serve needs to get better, fitness needs to get better. Everything can improve.

You are now in the mix for the USTA's Australian Open wild card, along with J.J. Wolf and Maxime Cressy. Are you thinking about that at all?
Not really, to be honest. Sure, it would be such a cool experience to play in the main draw of a slam. I never have. But like I said, there's so much to go and I just focus on the next match. That's how I approach it.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/kozlov- ... nger-title