LILLE, March 24, 2019
Gregoire Barrere successfully defended his title at the Play In Challenger Lille. The No. 3 seed of the €46,600 hard-court event defeated the tournament’s No. 2 Yannick Maden of Germany 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final at the Tennis Club Lillois Lille Metropole.
Barrere struck seven aces, winning 65 per cent of his first service points. The 25-year-old Frenchman broke his opponent five times to prevail after one hour and 46 minutes.
Championship point Hot Shot, courtesy of @GregBarrere 🔥🔥
The 🇫🇷 successfully defends his Lille crown, taking the title @PlayinLille 62 46 64 over Maden. pic.twitter.com/CO1ehRzto2
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) 24. März 2019
“I played well in the first set, being pretty aggressive,” Barrere said. “I fell back in the second and third and Yannick dominated the match at this point. It was very complicated (…) but I managed to come back, winning my second title here at this tournament.”
By lifting his third ATP Challenger trophy, Barrere collects €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points. He will reach a new career high at World No. 118 on Monday. Maden was seeking his maiden title at this level.
Arnodo and Nys take doubles title
Earlier in the day, Romain Arnodo of Monaco and Frenchman Hugo Nys clinched the doubles crown. The No. 3 seeds battled past the tournament’s No. 4 Jonathan Erlich from Israel and Fabrice Martin of France 7-5, 5-7, 10-8. The encounter lasted one hour and 39 minutes.
“We had to save match points, so we are pleased to win the title here,” said Arnodo and Nys, who will stay in France to play at St. Brieuc next week.
