ORLANDO, January 7, 2019
US-American Marcos Giron won his first career ATP Challenger Tour title at the inaugural Orlando Open, defeating top-seeded Darian King of Barbados in Sunday’s final, 6-4, 6-4.
The unseeded Giron, a California native and former NCAA singles champion at UCLA, defeated four consecutive seeded players en route to his first-career ATP Challenger Tour final where he faced King, the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The 25-year-old saved two of his three break points he faced, capitalizing on three of his own chances to seal victory in one hour and 27 minutes.
First. Challenger. Title.
Welcome to the winners’ circle @marcos_giron93! The champion in Orlando, reeling off 12 sets in a row to take the 🏆 pic.twitter.com/coxIG1Y1zP
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) 6. Januar 2019
“I couldn’t be happier, to be honest,” Giron said. “I spent part of my offseason here and it was an awesome training week. For me to win it here at the home of American tennis is just amazing. I played a fantastic match today and the whole week I played well too. It’s just an amazing feeling to come out on top.”
Giron, who earned $7,200 in prize money as well as 80 ATP-Ranking points, dropped King to 3-3 all-time in ATP Challenger Tour finals. His most recent title came in 2016.
The Orlando Open, which is a USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger event, was the first USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger event of the 2019 season and is the highest level of tennis on display to date at the USTA National Campus, with a prize-money pool of more than $54,000.
Sunday, January 6 – Results
Singles Main Draw – Final
Marcos Giron (USA) def. (1) Darian King (BAR) 6-4, 6-4
