SHENZHEN, March 19, 2018

Ilya Ivashka captured his second ATP Challenger career title, winning the 2018 Pingshan Open with a total prize money of $75,000 held on hard courts in Shenzhen, China. The No. 7 seed edged past local favourite and wild card entry Ze Zhang in Sunday’s singles final 6-4, 6-2.

The 24-year-old from Belarus struck seven aces, winning 80 per cent of his first service points. Ivashka broke serve four times to prevail after one hour and 16 minutes.

“I am very happy and excited to win the title here in Shenzhen,” said Ivashka. “I love this tournament and I want to thank all the people who helped me during the week.”

By lifting his second ATP Challenger trophy following his triumph in Fergana last year, the Minsk native takes away $10,800 in prize money as well as 90 ATP ranking points. Ivashka, the top Belarusian, will rise to World No. 122, a new career high on Monday.

On Saturday, Cheng-Peng Hsieh of Taiwan and Rameez Junaid from Australia took the doubles crown. The pair edged past Denys Molchanov from Ukraine and Slovakian Igor Zelenay 7-6, 6-3. The encounter lasted one hour and 14 minutes.