MUNICH, June 12, 2019 (by Dietmar Kaspar)
M25 Hong Kong HKG – Shintaro Imai crowns his perfect week
The Sony Men’s $25.000 Tournament, held at Victoria Park Tennis Courts in Hong Kong, concluded with the triumph of 25-year-old Shintaro Imai, who celebrated his third win on the ITF World Tennis Tour this season.
In the stage of the final four, the unseeded Japanese battled past Chinese top seed Yan Bai, who clinched the title in Luzhou last week, in straight sets.
No. 6 seeded Shuichi Sekiguchi, who was ranked ITF No. 5 as a junior, defeated his compatriot Yuki Mochizuki in two sets.
Converting five of his eleven break point opportunities by dropping one service game, Imai got the final win with 6-2, 6-1 after one hour and 21 minutes against his 27-year-old rival, to lift his eighth singles trophy on the ITF Pro Circuit.
Additionally to his victory in the singles competition, the Tokyo resident clinched the doubles trophy alongside his 20-year-old countryman Yuta Shimizu, who was ranked No. 5 in ITF Juniors two years ago.
M15 Plovdiv BUL – Jonathan Mridha gets the championship in Plovdiv
Jonathan Mridha captured the title of the Plovdiv Cup 2019, held at Tennis Club Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The 24-year old Stockholm native, who debuted for the Swedish Davis-Cup-Team in the tie against Switzerland last year, lifted his second singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour after his triumph 2017 on Czech soil.
En route to final, unseeded Mridha rallied past French No. 2 seed Baptiste Crepatte by a comeback-win in three sets in the semi-finals.
22-year-old runner-up Bastian Malla from Chile, who entered the competition on position 4, knocked off top seeded Dimitar Kuzmanov from Bulgaria in the stage of the last four in three sets.
Winning 79 per cent of his points on first service, protected-ranking entry Mridha sealed the final win by the score of 6-3, 6-3 after 94 minutes.
M15 Cancun MEX – Gerardo Lopez Villasenor seals another home win
The Cancun Tennis Cup, which was hosted at the Cancun Tennis Academy, concluded with the victory of No. 2 seeded Gerardo Lopez Villasenor.
The 24-year-old Mexican, who did not drop a set during the competition, knocked off No. 4 seeded teenager Nick Hardt from the Dominican Republic in the stage of the final four.
Contemporary Connor Farren emerged victorious from the all-US American semi-final versus Adam El Mihdawy in three sets.
Dominating the title match in 79 minutes, Lopez Villasenor capitalized on five of his 10 break point opportunities without losing a service game to celebrate a 6-1, 6-1 win. After his maiden title in Mexico City last year, the Puerto Vallarta native lifted his second career trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour on Mexican soil.
M15 Champaign USA – Nathan Ponwith clinches his maiden title on the ITF Pro Circuit
Nathan Ponwith is the champion of the Fletcher Financial Open 2019, which took place at the University of Illinois at Champaign.
The 21-year-old US-American, who entered the tournament in the qualifying competition, took the last step to the final in beating his 19-year-old countryman Sumit Sarkar in two sets.
25-year-old local hero Strong Kirchheimer defeated No. 5 seeded Diego Hidalgo from Ecuador in the stage of the final four in a tough three-set clash.
Outpointing his No. 6 seeded opponent in the all-American title match with 71-67, Ponwith withstood the 7 aces of his rival to secure a 7-6, 6-4 victory after one hour and 43 minutes, to lift his first singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Congrats to 🇺🇸 Nathan Ponwith on winning the singles title at the M15 Champaign, IL! #USTAProCircuit pic.twitter.com/JEJr7vaynk
— USTA (@usta) 10. Juni 2019
M15 Tabarka TUN – Second title of the season for Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo
The Magic Tours tournament at Thabraca Magic Hotel concluded with the victory of Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo.
The 20-year-old Spaniard battled past Brazilian No. 5 seed Joao Pedro Sorgi in the stage of the last four in straight sets.
Runner-up Genaro Alberto Olivieri from Argentina, who entered the tournament on position six, stopped the run of his compatriot and last year’s No. 1 in ITF Juniors Sebastian Baez in the semi-finals in two sets.
Lasting three hours and six minutes, No. 3 seeded Sanchez Izquierdo earned three points more than his same-aged opponent by the score of 102-99, to claim the final win with 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. After his maiden title in Angers earlier this season, the Barcelona native celebrated his second career trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
M15 Singapore SGP – Dayne Kelly prevails in Singapore
Australian Dayne Kelly dominated the M15 ITF Men 2 tournament in Singapore, which was held at Kallang Tennis Centre, without losing a set during the competition.
The 28-year old top seed made the last step to the title match in defeating No. 7 seeded Jonathan Gray from Great Britain.
No. 5 seeded Scottish teenager Aidan McHugh, who was ranked ITF No. 8 in ITF Juniors last year, rallied past US-American No. 8 seed Alec Adamson in the semi-finals in three sets.
Converting five of his 10 break point chances by dropping one service game, left-handed Kelly clinched a 6-3, 6-0 victory in the final after one hour and 58 minutes to lift his 12th trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
M15 Daegu KOR – Seong Chan Hong dominates Korean affair
No 6 seeded Seong Chan Hong got the crown of the ITF M15 tournament, held at Universiade Tennis Courts in Daegu, without losing a set during the tournament.
In the all-Korean semi-finals, the 21-year old knocked off No. 7 seeded Seong-Gook Oh.
Wild card entry Jung-Woong Na defeated top seeded Cheong-Eui Kim in two clear sets.
Breaking the serve of his 26-year-old rival for five times by losing one service game in the title match, Hong claimed a 6-0, 6-3 victory in 61 minutes. The former No. 2 in ITF Junior rankings celebrated his eighth trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour, all of them won on hard court.
M15 Tumon GUM – Gengo Kikuchi finishes drought period
27-year-old Gengo Kikuchi triumphed at the King’s Guam World Tennis Tour tournament, which was hosted at Hilton Guam Resort and Spa.
The Japanese No. 6 seed, who knocked off Spanish top seed Jordi Samper-Montana in the stage of the final eight, got victorious in the all-Japanese semi-finals versus No. 3 seeded Kento Takeuchi in straight sets.
Tournament’s No. 2 Hiroyasu Ehara made the last step to the final in beating special exempt entry Ko Suzuki in two sets.
Tokyo native Kikuchi broke the service of his contemporary rival for four times without losing a service game, to secure a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 63 minutes. After his maiden triumph on Japanese soil in 2016, he lifted his second career trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
