DJERBA, April 30, 2018

Altug Celikbilek of Turkey is the champion of last week’s $15,000 Djerba Open, the 16th ITF Pro Circuit men’s event held on Tunisian soil this season. The second favourite fought past top seed Yannick Mertens of Belgium 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final at Jerba Sun Club.

Celikbilek capitalized on eight of his 21 break point chances to seal victory in two hours and 36 minutes. The 21-year-old right-hander clinched his Futures title following his triumph on home soil last year.

“I was enjoying that I was in the final. I knew my opponent before, as he is a very good player. His level was good, I knew that I had to fight for every point. I didn’t give up and played aggressively,” Celikbilek was pleased afterwards. He takes away $1,944 in prize money as well as 18 ATP Ranking points.

On Saturday, Bernardo Saraiva from Portugal and Dutchman Sem Verbeek took the doubles title. The top seeds beat the No. 2 seeds Domagoj Biljesko of Croatia and Altug Celikbilek 6-3, 6-1. The final lasted 56 minutes.