MURCIA, April 13, 2019
Roberto Carballés Baena of Spain and Mikael Ymer from Sweden will compete in Sunday’s singles final of the inaugural Murcia Open. On another sunny day and in front of packed stands at the Murcia Club de Tenis, the No. 2 seed from Spain fought past Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
After a slow start into the match, losing his serve in the third game of the opening set, Carballés Baena got better the longer the encounter lasted. The World No. 113 from Tenerife capitalized on all of his four break point opportunities and converted his second match point after two hours and 28 minutes.
The singles final at @MurciaClubTenis is set. @Robertocarba93 will take on @MikaelYmer for the Murcia Open title. #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/NxrBjCjKI2
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) 13. April 2019
Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that Mikael Ymer will receive a walkover into the final. His opponent Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands was forced to withdraw from the match due to injury.
Carballés Banea is seeking his sixth ATP Challenger title, his first since his victory on home soil at the Sánchez-Casal Academy in El Prat de Llobregat in October last year. Ymer could clinch his second trophy of the season following his maiden triupmh in Nouméa in January. The 20-year-old Stockholm resident leads the pair’s head-to-head record 2-1. Ymer also won the last meeting at the ATP Challenger in Lyon in straight sets.
Daniell/Marrero clinch first team title
Later in the afternoon, Marcus Daniell from New Zealand and David Marrero of Spain captured the doubles title. The top seeds defeated Rameez Junaid of Australia and Andrei Vasilevski from Belarus 6-4, 6-4. The final lasted one hour and 12 minutes.
First time teaming up, first 🏆 @MarcusDaniell & @david_marri are the doubles champions at @MurciaClubTenis pic.twitter.com/fbqZibivyp
— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) 13. April 2019
“It was quite up and down today. We got the lead, but my serve let us down a bit,” Daniell told Tennis TourTalk afterwards. “The key was to keep the foot on the gas and we returned well and put pressure on their serves. We converted our break points and it worked out in the end.”
Marcus Daniell and David Marrero (photo: Florian Heer)
Daniell and Marrero were teaming-up for the first time. “We just started talking last week. I was supposed to be in Marrakech but my partner was forced to pull out in the very last minute. I have known David for a few years. We have played against each other, practiced together a bit. He is a great guy and it was fun this week. It worked out resultswise as well.”
World No. 71 Daniell had a great start into the season by lifting the trophy at the ATP tournament in Brisbane alongside Dutchman Wesley Koolhof. “We will team-up again in Budapest a week from now. It’s great to make some points during the week that we can’t play together. My ranking slipped a bit from injury so starting the process of getting ranking back is important. Winning here is a step into the right direction.”
Asked about his main goal for the rest of the season, the 29-year-old stated: “To stay healthy. That’s the biggest thing for me. Staying on the match court. If we can do this for the rest of the year, we will have a good shot to do some damage. I am looking forward to a couple of months where I don’t have to defend points and really make a jump up.”
