BERGAMO/STARNBERG, November 7, 2021
Rising Danish tennis star Holger Rune captured his fourth ATP Challenger Tour title by winning the Trofeo Faip-Perrel held at the Palazzetto dello Sport di Bergamo in Northern Italy. The No. 3 seed of the €44,820 indoor hard-court tournament defeated Cem Ilkel of Turkey 7-5, 7-6(6) in Sunday’s singles final.
Rune battled his way to the championship match with wins over Frenchman Mathias Bourgue, Slovakian Filip Horansky, Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Alex Molcan of Slovakia.
The 18-year-old struck seven aces and won 72 per cent of his first-service points to secure victory in two hours and 11 minutes.
Rune reigns in Bergamo 🙌💪
Holger Rune heads to the @nextgenfinals with some serious momentum, claiming his FOURTH title of the year in Bergamo.
At 18, the 🇩🇰 is the youngest #ATPChallenger hard-court winner since Jannik Sinner exactly two years ago in Ortisei. pic.twitter.com/GmhSFwwsgg
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 7, 2021
“I think the most difficult thing about this final was the mental aspect. He played an excellent tournament and showed some real good tennis. We had played in similar conditions a couple of years ago and it was a battle, but again I found a way to win,” said Rune.
“It could have been the last Challenger of my career,” the World No. 118 added. “Maybe I could play a couple more to get into the Top-100, but then I’ll focus on the Grand Slams and ATP Tour tournaments. I am looking forward to it.”
Rune was successful at the Challenger events in Biella, San Marino and Verona earlier in the year. He pocketed €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points. Rune will make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan the upcoming week.
Kolar/Lehecka prevail in doubles
On Saturday, Zdenek Kolar and Jiri Lehecka took the doubles title. The Czech duo upset the tournament’s top seeds Lloyd Glasspool from Great Britain and Harri Heliovaara from Finland 6-4, 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and seven minutes.
Kolar and Lehecka split €2,670 in prize money and earned 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
