Budapest: Marius Copil emerged as the surprise victor in Budapest, defeating the fourth seed Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-2 in the final to claim his first singles title on the Challenger circuit since February 2013.
Copil, unseeded in the tournament, took the title despite the presence of many higher-profile names in the draw. The likes of veterans including Tommy Robredo, Darcis, and Denis Istomin lost out, as did the younger generation including Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Quentin Halys.
Copil defeated Darcis in surprisingly comfortable fashion, and also accounted for Medvedev, perhaps denying the young Russian his first week as a Top 100 ranked player.
The final itself was a tight affair despite its rather one-sided scoreline. Darcis created seven break point, four in the first set and three in the second, but found Copil in inspired form in those clutch moments. The Romanian was rather more clinical, breaking on three of four his opportunities to defeat the one-time conqueror of Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in straight sets.
Copil will see his ranking move back up towards the Top 150. He will be active next week, playing in the Eckental Challenger where he will start unseeded against a qualifier. He is in the same section as sixth seed Lukas Lacko, and Medvedev, whom he beat in the semi-finals in Budapest. Darcis is also in action and will start against Laslo Djere.
Suzhou: The Suzhou final was a disappointment between Yen-Hsun Lu and the young American Stefan Kozlov, with the teenager going down 6-0, 6-1 in fifty-two minutes, a far cry from the close three set battle required to out him from last week’s tournament against the same opponent. It marks consecutive Challenger titles for Lu, after his win in Ningbo, and his twenty-sixth overall. It is his fourth title of the season at this level (also Surbiton, Ningbo and Ilkely).
The win sees Lu cement his place in the Top 100, sitting comfortably around No.80. Kozlov, despite his final defeat, will move to a new career-high ranking, likely somewhere inside the Top 150 (currently no.155).
Pune: There was a shock victor in Pune as twenty-six year-old Frenchman Sadio Doumbia secured his first Challenger title from a ranking position of no.359 by defeating India’s eighth seed Prajnesh Gunnerswaran 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Doumbia succeeded in a tournament where Evgeny Donskoy had been the top seed.
Traralgon: The Australian Traralgon tournament in contrast, went rather according to seedings, as top seed Jordan Thompson defeated fourth seed Grega Zemlja 6-1, 6-2.
Player of the week: A number of worthy candidates, including Copil, Lu, and Kozlov, but this week’s biggest success story has to be the maiden title for Sadio Doumbia. The Pune event may have lacked any Top 100 players, but the Frenchman nevertheless had to compete hard against the likes of Donskoy for his first title.
