MILAN, July 2, 2018
Laslo Djere won the €43,000 Aspria Tennis Cup – Trofeo BCS, the lone ATP Challenger event held in Milan last week. The No. 1 seed from Serbia eased past Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager 6-2, 6-1 in Sunday’s final.
Djere was in total control of the encounter, didn’t face a break point, converting five of his six own chances to prevail after only 56 minutes.
“It was his first final and I know what it feels like,” Djere said. “I have more experience than him and I think this was the key: Gianluca is a very good tennis player, he will play other finals and one day he will win.
“It was one of my best matches during this week. I served well, I always found the right answer and I think that I was more focused than him.”
Djere lifted his second trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour following his triumph in Perugia last year. The 23-year- old takes away €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP ranking points.
“This year I would like to close the season in the top 70,” Djere revealed. “If I continue to work hard and play well I can do it. For the future, I would like to become a top 10 player and maybe push myself into the top 8 to play the year-end Masters. It would be fantastic, I will work as hard as possible to fulfill this dream. We will see how it will go.”
Next up will be Wimbledon, where Djere has to adjust from clay to grass in very short time.
“I will travel to London Monday morning,” Djere said. “There were no seats on tonight’s flights, also I did not know how long the final would be and booking a flight would be risky. I will go tomorrow and I will play the third match. I will do my best.” His opponent will be Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi.