KARSHI, May 12, 2018

Egor Gerasimov won his second successive Karshi Challenger title on Saturday. The tournament with a total prize money of $75,000 is held on hard courts in the capital of Qashqadaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. The No. 3 seed benefited from the retirement of fellow Belarussian Sergey Betov in the singles final, leading 7-6, 2-0.

Gerasimov advanced to the title match with wins over Farrukh Dustov, Teymuraz Gabashvili, Lloyd Harris and Cem Ilkel. The 25-year-old from Minsk won 56 per cent of the total points played before Betov, who battled from the qualifying into the final, was forced to stop playing due to a hip injury.

By lifting his fifth ATP Challenger crown, Gerasimov takes away $10,800 in prize money as well as 90 ATP Ranking points.

On Friday, Timur Khabibulin of Kazakhstan and Vladyslav Manafov from Ukraine captured the doubles title. The No. 2 seeds eased past local favourites and wild card entries Sanjar Fayziev and Jurabek Karimov 6-2, 6-1 in the final. The encounter lasted 55 minutes.