COLUMBUS, November 28, 2016
NextGen star Stefan Kozlov captured his very first ATP Challenger title, winning the $75,000 2016 Columbus II Challenger, held at the Varsity Indoor Tennis Center of the Ohio State University. The 18-year-old defeated Jose Statham of New Zealand, Germany’s Dominik Koepfer, US-American Kevin King and Sam Barry from Ireland en-route to the final.
Kozlov eventually fought past fellow US-American and the tournaments number six Tennys Sandgren on Sunday, winning 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. The fourth seed won 71 per cent of his first service points and converted four of his six break point chances to prevail in one hour and 34 minutes.
Kozlov, who lifted three trophies on the ITF Pro Circuit this season, takes away $10,800 in prize money as well as 90 ATP Ranking points, reaching a new career high on Monday at World No. 116. This is the 13th time a teenager has won a Challenger this year and Kozlov is now the 17th#NextGen winner overall.
Earlier the day, David O’Hare from Ireland and Briton Joe Salisbury clinched the doubles title, winning the final 6-3, 6-4 over the all-Britsh-combination of Luke Bambridge and Cameron Norrie. The encounter lasted 61 minutes.
