VILLENA, April 6, 2018

World No. 598 Pablo Andújar and Australian teenager Alex de Minaur will compete in Saturday’s singles final of the €43,000 Ferrero Challenger Open.

The 32-year-old Spaniard stunned No. 2 seed Marco Cecchinato on Friday, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Andújar, who entered the main draw with a wild card, gained on break more than his opponent to reach his first ATP Challenger title match since August 2010 when he finished runner-up to Grigor Dimitrov in Geneva.

In the meantime, Andújar captured three trophies on the ATP World Tour, reaching a career high ranking at World No. 32 in July 2015. Two years later, the Cuenca native underwent a right elbow surgery and missed more than eight months of season. He returned to action in September 2017 competing on the ITF Pro Circuit.

De Minaur upset top seed Roberto Carballés Baena 6-2, 6-4. The 19-year-old Sydney native was in control, didn’t face a break point, converting three of his own to prevail after one hour and 27 minutes.

De Minaur will appear in his third ATP Challenger final, trying to clinch his maiden crown. It will be the first meeting between the two.

Later in the day, Wesley Koolhof from the Netherlands and Artem Sitak of New Zealand clinched the doubles crown. The duo edged past Argentine Guido Andreozzi and Ariel Behar from Uruguay 6-3, 6-2. The final lasted 58 minutes.