TRIER/STARNBERG, August 26, 2024
German teenager Justin Engel has clinched his third career title on the Pro Circuit by winning the 38th edition of the Etges & Dächert Open Trier. In front of about 400 spectators at the Tennis Club Trier, the 16-year-old from Nürnberg defeated his compatriot Milan Welte 6-1, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final.
Engel, No. 7 seed of the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 clay-court event battled his way to the championship match on home soil with wins in the bottom half of the draw over German qualifier Noah Thurner, Jesse de Jager from the Netherlands, Sebastian Prechtel of Germany and his sixth-seeded compatriot Patrick Zahraj.
The World No. 679 and last year’s Under 16 European champion won 79 per cent of his first-service points and broke his rival four times in the title match to seal victory in one hour and 12 minutes.
Justin Engel hat den 3. M15-Titel in diesem Jahr gefeiert. Finalsieg gegen Milan Welte. Er ist der jüngste Spieler unter den Top600. pic.twitter.com/XygMIoorUh
— Chip & Charge (@ChipundCharge) August 25, 2024
Following his triumphs in Villach, Austria and Uslar, Germany earlier in the season, Engel lifted his third career trophy. He earned 15 ATP Ranking points reaching a new career-high ranking of World No. 663 this week.
“The situation in the final is exactly as we had hoped. Two young, up-and-coming talents in the final – that’s how it should be at these ITF M15 tournaments,” said tournament director Markus Grundhöfer.
“We hope that Trier will be a similar springboard for Justin as it was for the former Trier champion Grigor Dimitrov, who made it to number three in the world rankings,” he added.
