HAMBURG, October 23, 2022
Alexander Ritschard of Switzerland captured his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour by winning the Hamburg Ladies & Gents Cup. The No. 4 seed of the €45,730 hard-court event hosted by the Hamburger-Tennis-Verband benefited from the retirement of his compatriot and fifth favourite Henri Laaksonen in Sunday’s singles final.
Ritschard, ranked World No. 216, was leading 7-5, 6-5 and serving for the match when Laaksonen stopped playing due to injury.
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“It means a lot. It’s my first Challenger title of the year, of my career actually,” Ritschard said. “It was a tough week. I had many tough matches, played point for point and somehow managed to sneak out the win today.
“I don’t know what happened (with Laaksonen). He seemed to be okay but something seemed to happen towards the end of the second set, something with his leg. I was pretty confident winning the match. I hope he will recover quickly.”
Following five triumphs on the ITF Pro Circuit, Ritschard claimed his first Challenger crown and collected €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.
“Ranking-wise I hope to finish the year inside the Top 150. I will have four or five more Challengers coming up this year and I hope for good results there. I am looking forward to it,” the 28-year-old Zürich native said. Ritschard has become the fourth Swiss Challenger champion this season joining Dominic Stricker, Marc-Andrea Huesler and Antoine Bellier.
