The young Macedonia-born American Stefan Kozlov edged compatriot Tennys Sandgren in the final Challenger of the American hard-court season. The eighteen-year old recovered from a slip in the second set to win 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.
Kozlov enjoyed a strong week, winning all of his matches en route to the final in straight sets. He defeated the likes of Jose Statham, Dominik Koepfer, Kevin King and Sam Barry with some ease. Kozlov’s run to the final was made easier as Barry enjoyed a shock quarter-final win over top seed Taylor Fritz. Seventh seed Austin Krajicek, who was in Kozlov’s quarter, lost in the first round to Christian Harrison. As a result, Barry was Kolzov’s toughest match-up in the top half, though there was ranking gap of more than one hundred places between the two.
Tennys Sandgren also had some luck, as the second seed, Rajeev Ram, was instead replaced by the lucky loser Luke Bambride after Ram’s withdrawal due to tendinitis. Sandgren nevertheless survivied a tough match with Cameron Norrie in the quarters, before overcoming third seed and Champaign titlist Henri Laaksonen in three sets.
Kozlov allowed Sandgren into the final as his level dropped in the secon, surrendering two breaks of serve. The younger man regained his composure in the decider though, breaking twice himself to earn ninety ranking points that will aid his quest to feature in the main draw of the 2017 Australian Open. Sandgren may move into the Top 200 as a result of his runner-up display.
Andria: Luca Vanni took advantage of a number of shocks to win the title in Italy, though it was a close thing against twenty-year old wildcard Matteo Berrettini 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.
Berrettini had accounted for second seed Marco Chiudinelli, former World no. 5 Tommy Robredo and Egor Gerasimov on his way to the final. Vanni though, finally played himself into form, dispatching Aldin Setkic and top seed Sergiy Stakhovsky in impressive fashion. Berrettini has this week announced himself as a big server. The twenty year-old stands at 6’4, and uses his impressive size well, hitting double figures in aces in each of his matches this week, as well as posting a high first serve winning percentage.
Berrettini ran out of steam in the final. After securing a late break in the first set, the wildcard won just three more games as Vanni finished the match well on top
Player of the week: Matteo Berrettini: The Italian scored highly impressive wins on his way to the final, and duly paid back the Andria organisers for his wildcard, a great effort.
