COMO, September 6, 2015

The sun returned to Como on the final day of the € 42,500 ATP Challenger event.

Due to rain, the semi-finals of the singles competition had to be played on Sunday ahead of the tournament’s climax. Second seed Andrey Kuznetsov defeated Pedro Cachin, winning 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 36 minutes to take on Daniel Brands, who beat with the tournament’s number three Carlos Berlocq another Argentine 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 after one hour and 46 minutes.

Both men met for the first time on the tour and Kuznetsov was the dominant player on court. The 24-year-old Russian won 84% of his first service points and didn’t face a break point. Brands lost his services in the third game of every set and suffered another break when he netted a forehand on match point in the ninth game of the second frame.

Kuznetsov sealed victory in one hour and 11 minutes, winning 6-4, 6-3 to capture his second consecutive title on the ATP Challenger Tour, following his win in Manerbio last Sunday. The world number 90 took away € 6,150 in prize money as well as 80 ATP ranking points.

The 28-year-old German, who claimed two ITF Future titles this season, still has to wait to lift another trophy on Challenger level. His last title came on home soil in Eckental 2012.