TULLN/STARNBERG, September 13, 2026

Mika Brunold crowned his impressive “Road to Sunday” at the NÖ Open powered by EVN with the biggest success of his career. The Swiss qualifier defeated Joao Lucas Reis da Silva 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday in front of a packed Center Court in Tulln to win his first ATP Challenger title. The Brazilian, who had not dropped a set on his way to the final, suffered his first defeat of the week in the championship match.

After Brunold had won his opening qualifying match, few people at SPORTLAND Niederösterreich would have expected the 21-year-old to be lifting the trophy seven matches later. Brunold himself had already spoken about his personal “Road to Sunday” – and then received a fortune cookie with a remarkably fitting message: “Nothing will stop you, you’ll win!” What initially seemed like a nice side story became reality on Sunday.

Brunold made the better start to the final, breaking Reis da Silva early. The Brazilian gradually found his rhythm and levelled the match at 3-3, but Brunold immediately responded with another break. The Swiss displayed tremendous intelligence throughout the contest, constantly varying between spin, slice and powerful groundstrokes to give his opponent different problems.

After 48 minutes, Brunold converted his fourth set point to take the opening set 6-4.

The second set followed a similar pattern. Brunold again secured an early break and refused to let his momentum slip. Reis da Silva fought until the very end and saved a first match point at 3-5 on his own serve. But there was no stopping Brunold, who served out the match moments later. After one hour and 22 minutes, he converted his second match point to complete a 6-4, 6-3 victory before celebrating with the Tulln crowd.

A breakthrough moment 🏆

Mika Brunold claims his first ATP Challenger title after beating Reis da Silva 6-4, 6-3 in Tulln!#ATPChallenger | @swiss_tennis_ pic.twitter.com/WDw11F1slw

— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) September 13, 2026

“It’s incredible. It was a tough fight and he made life very difficult for me. I’m very happy with the way I found solutions and fought. It’s indescribable,” Brunold said after securing the biggest title of his career.

The triumph also brings a huge leap in the ATP rankings. Brunold, who entered the tournament ranked No. 410 in the world, is projected to climb to No. 257 in the live rankings – a new career high. The Swiss, however, was reluctant to set himself a specific ranking target.

“The most important thing is to stay injury-free and enjoy it. I’ve worked very well over the past few weeks, I’ve been happy and everything has come together. I think that has been my recipe so far – and I’ll keep eating fortune cookies.”

Despite the final defeat, Reis da Silva also looked back on a highly successful week. The Brazilian was contesting his second Challenger final of the season.

“It was a very positive week. I haven’t always been able to produce this level over the past few months, so I’m very happy to have reached the final,” Reis da Silva said, while congratulating Brunold on his performance.

“Mika played incredible tennis here. At the same time, I want to thank everyone who made this tournament possible and made us feel at home throughout the entire week.”

During the trophy ceremony on Center Court, ÖTV President Richard Grasl presented Reis da Silva with the runner-up trophy and a bottle of sparkling wine from Weingut Jurtschitsch. Tournament winner Brunold received his trophy from Udo Landbauer, Deputy Governor of Lower Austria.

Leitgeb: “The crowd showed that there are real tennis fans here”

The final brought the sixth edition of the NÖ Open powered by EVN to a close. Tournament director Florian Leitgeb of Champ Events was delighted with the overall outcome of an intense week. Despite there being no Austrian player involved on the final day, the Center Court was once again very well attended.

“We are very satisfied. The right players were in the final and both of them deserved to be there after the great tennis they played throughout the week. Mika raised his level once again today and is a deserved champion,” Leitgeb said.

“Of course, we would have been even happier if an Austrian had still been in the draw on Sunday. But it was all the more pleasing to see so many people come. The crowd appreciated the tennis that was being played here.”

Lukas Neumayer was the best-performing Austrian at this year’s tournament, reaching the quarterfinals.

In the end, it was Brunold who wrote the final chapter of the sixth NÖ Open: seven victories in eight days, his first ATP Challenger title and a fortune cookie whose prediction in Tulln truly came true.

NÖ Open powered by EVN – Champions

2026: Mika Brunold (SUI)
2025: Marco Trungelitti (ARG)
2024: Jan Choinski (GBR)
2023: Vit Kopriva (CZE)
2022: Jozef Kovalik (SLO)
2021: Mats Moraing (GER)