Japan’s Taro Daniel cruised past Sebastian Ofner 6-1 6-2 in just 70 minutes in the final of the ATP Challenger in Hamburg to claim the seventh ATP Challenger of his career and his first indoor trophy in this category. Daniel won 84% with his first set points.
Last January Daniel did not drop a set en route to his sixth ATP Challenger in Burnie (Australia).
The Japanese player coached by Sven Groenevald started the week with two three-set wins before dropping a combined eight games in his next matches.
Daniel has moved up eight spots to number 114 in the ATP Ranking. He reached a career-high of number 64 in August 2018. He earned the biggest win of his career over Novak Djokovic to reach the third round at Indian Wells in 2018.
“I had a great week in Hamburg and kept developing my play. Today I made it very difficult for my opponent and never let him get into the game. I am very happy and hope that I can take the momentum with me into the next tournament”, said Daniel.
Martinez beats Munar in Marbella
Pedro Martinez beats his compatriot Jaume Munar 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in an all- Spanish final at the Any Tech 365 Open in Marbella. After an early trade of breaks in the first and fourth games Martinez and Munar held their next games en route to 5-5. Munar converted his second break point in the 11th game with a drop-shot to take a 6-5 lead. Martinez broke straight back on his third break point chance with a stop-volley. Munar earned the first mini-break to take a 3-1 lead. Martinez won three consecutive points with two mini-breaks to take a 5-3 lead. Munar broke straight back for 4-5 but Martinez won the final two points to clinch the tie-break 7-4. Martinez got two consecutive breaks in the fifth and seventh games to close out the second set 6-2.
Martinez dropped just one set in the whole tournament winning in straight sets over Carlos Taberner and recent Lisbon ATP Challenger Munar.
Martinez won his first Masters 1000 match in Rome last September beating a top 50 opponent Sam Querrey. He went on to reach the third round at Roland Garros as a qualifier to make his top 100 debut.
“This title means a lot to me. It was the icing on the cake to a good year. I have had a negative balance in Challenger finals, but to be able to win here in Spain gives me a lot of confidence. The truth is that I feel very satisfied”, said Martinez.
