PHOENIX/STARNBERG, March 21, 2022

Denis Kudla was the dominant player over the past week at the Carvana Arizona Tennis Classic. The 29-year-old US-American captured the singles as well as the doubles title on the final day of the $159,360 ATP Challenger Tour hard-court event at the Phoenix Country Club.

Kudla won his first match on Sunday, rallying past Daniel Altmaier of Germany 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. The World No. 102 took control midway through the second set and dominated from there. Kudla withstood 11 aces and broke Altmaier three times to secure victory in one hour and 55 minutes.

“He aced me with the wind, which is always faster. But I was okay, I had to let it go,” said Kudla, who lifted his eighth career trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour, his first since the Atlantic Tire Championships in Cary 2020. He earned $21,600 in prize money as well as 125 ATP Ranking points, which helped him to return to the Top 100 for the first time since November last year.

Kiev-native Kudla, who moved with his parents from Ukraine to Virginia as a 1-year-old, said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has affected his family, but also mentioned that his relatives are safe.

“Obviously the nerves and the stress of potential air strikes is not fun, but again, you just hope for peace, no war. It’s definitely a mess. It’s sad to see in this time. We just hope for the best and send all our blessings over there,” Kudla said.

Kudla/Huey earn doubles title

Some 20 minutes after his triumph in singles, Kudla was back on the court for the doubles final. The Virginia resident teamed up with Treat Huey from the Philippines to outlast the all-German combination of Oscar Otte and Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(10), 3-6, 10-6 in one hour and 20 minutes.

By clinching their first team title, Kudla and Huey split $9,300 in prize money and pocketed 125 Doubles Ranking points.

Denis’ double duty 🤜🤛@deniskudla adds to his Phoenix singles title, securing the doubles 🏆 alongside @TreatHuey.

📸 @danieldwinkler pic.twitter.com/RIditQuetX

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 20, 2022