TALLAHASSEE, April 29, 2018
US-American Noah Rubin claimed the singles title at the 19th annual Tallahassee Tennis Challenger Sunday, after defeating Marc Polmans 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
In the first set, Rubin played powerful tennis and took the opening set 6-2. In the second set though, Polmans found his game and turned the tides on Rubin to force the decider. In the final set both players held serve, but in the last game of the match Rubin broke Polmans on his sixth match point to claim the singles title of the $75,000 ATP Challenger event after two hours and seven minutes.
On his SIXTH championship point, @Noahrubin33 takes the title in a thrilling Tallahassee final. Edges Marc Polmans 62 36 64. #ATPChallenger titles on hard and clay in 2018 for the 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/9M5aS62opX
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) 28. April 2018
“I felt confident going into the match and it wasn’t easy,” said Rubin. The World No. 252 had a strong start to the year winning the ATP Challenger Tour title in New Caledonia. With the win today, Rubin picked up his second title of the year and first career title on clay.
“It’s a little bit surreal, and you just need to remember how tennis is like a rollercoaster,” said Rubin.
The 22-year old US-American is now the leader of the USTA’s Roland Garros Wild Card Challenger going into week four. He leads the pack with 86 points with Bjorn Fratangelo trailing behind him with 50 points. By lifting his fourth ATP Challenger trophy, Rubin earns $10,800 in prize money as well as 80 ATP ranking points.
Galloway/Kudla clinch doubles crown
Robert Galloway and Denis Kudla (photo: Jacob Stuckey/Tallahassee Tennis Challenger)
In the doubles final Robert Galloway and Denis Kudla took on No. 4 seeds Enrique Lopez Perez and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. Galloway and Kudla were unstoppable with Galloway attacking the net and ending key points. The US-American duo closed out the opening set 6-3. In the second set they continued the punishing tennis and took the championship match with a final score of 6-3, 6-1 after 55 minutes.
Next up, the USTA Pro Circuit heads to Savannah, GA for the St. Joseph’s/Candler (SJ/C) Savannah Challenger. The SJ/C Savannah Challenger is a $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit and ATP Challenger Tour event that is held at The Landings Club, April 28-May 6. Professional athletes from around the world and will be competing for $75,000 in prize money, as well as ATP World Tour Ranking points with the winner receiving 80 points. Both Rubin and Polmans are expected to compete at the tournament and the wild card into the French Open will also be awarded at the completion of the week.
