BASTAD, July 14, 2018
Bid day for Pedro Martínez! The 21-year-old Spaniard clinched his first ATP Challenger title at the €43,000 clay-court event in Bastad. Martínez defeated French teenager Corentin Moutet 7-6(5), 6-4 in Saturday’s singles final.
The unseeded player from Valencia capitalized on four of his eight break point opportunities to prevail after one hour and 56 minutes. Martínez lifted eight titles on the ITF Pro Circuit but eventually took his first Challenger crown.
Pedro Martínez (photo: Brigitte Urban)
“I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the match,” Martínez said afterwards. “Even when I was down, I knew that I will fight for every point. I kept believing in myself and it was a good match in the end.
“I didn’t play that well during the last couple of weeks. I came here to play as many matches as possible. My confidence has grown with every win. I am very pleased with the victory here, which is one of the best places I have ever been to.”
The World No. 251 takes away €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP ranking points.
Earlier in the day, Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henri Laaksonen from Switzerland captured the doubles title. The unseeded pair edged past Zdenek Kolar from the Czech Republic and Portuguese Goncalo Oliveira 6-4, 6-3. The encounter lasted one hour and three minutes.
