ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour Round-Up CW 24

Sam Riffice wins his maiden title on the ITF World Tennis Tour at Wichita Tennis Open

MUNICH, June 19, 2019

M25 Wichita USA – Sam Riffice with great run to his maiden title on the ITF Pro Circuit 

Sam Riffice dominated the Wichita Tennis Open without dropping a set during the entire week. The tournament was hosted at Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex, which is located at the Wichita State University in Kansas.

In the all-US-American semi-finals, the 20-year-old Sacramento native, who was ranked ITF No. 18 as a junior, defeated No. 2 seeded Alexander Ritschard.

21-year-old Brandon Holt, who entered the tournament on position three, advanced versus No. 7 seeded Evan Zhu in straight sets.

Capitalizing on three of his five break point chances without facing a break point, No. 4 seeded Riffice sealed a 6-1, 6-4 victory after 65 minutes, to lift his first trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

Singles runner-up Brandon Holt clinched the doubles trophy alongside his partner Alexander Cozbinov from Moldova. The tandem battled past Jacob Dunbar from the United States and David Fox from Great Britain with 7-6, 6-3.

M25 Huelva ESP – Clay-court specialist Pedro Sakamoto prevails in Huelva

No. 2 seed Pedro Sakamoto got the trophy of the 94° Copa del Rey de Tenis, hosted at R.C.R. De Tenis De Huelva.

The 25-year-old Brazilian dominated the bottom half of the draw without losing a set on the way to the final. In the semi-finals, he battled past Spanish qualifier Pol Martin Tiffon.

Top seeded Juan Pablo Varillas from Peru made the last step to the title match in defeating unseeded Bastian Malla from Chile in straight sets.

Striking six aces in two hours and 22 minutes, Sakamoto outpointed his 23-year-old rival from Lima 103-93, to secure a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 victory. The Rio de Janeiro resident celebrated his fourth career trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour, all of them won on clay-court.

M25 Hong Kong HKG – Augustin Velotti captures his third title of the season

The Sony Men’s $25.000 Tournament, held at Victoria Park Tennis Courts in Hong Kong, culminated in the triumph of unseeded Augustin Velotti, who celebrated his third trophy win of the season on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

The 27-year-old Argentine defeated Australian top seed Dayne Kelly in the opening round in straight sets and rallied past Indian No. 6 seed Sidharth Rawat in the semi-finals in two sets.

Last week’s Hong Kong-champion Shintaro Imai from Japan, who entered the tournament on position seven, knocked off No. 5 seeded teenager Chun Hsin Tseng from Chinese Taipei in the stage of the final four in two clear sets. 17-year-old Tseng was ranked No. 1 in  ITF Juniors last year.

Firing seven aces in 80 minutes, Velotti, who was ranked ITF No. 2 as a junior, got the final win with 6-3, 6-3 to lift his 14th career trophy on the ITF Pro Circuit.

M25 Shenzhen CHN – Yan Bai clinches his third season title on Chinese soil

Yan Bai dominated the Futian Cup ITF Tournament, which took place at Jing Tian Tennis Center in Shenzhen, without losing a set during the competition.

In the semi-finals, the 30-year-old Chinese battled past Yu Hsiou Hsu from Chinese Taipei, who was previously ranked No. 5 in ITF Juniors.

French No. 7 seed Laurent Rochette advanced versus Chinese qualifier Yecong Mo in straight sets.

Lasting 94 minutes, top seeded Bai outpointed his 31-year-old opponent by the score of 71-48 to secure a 6-4, 6-1 victory. The Shanghai resident lifted his 17th career trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour, the third on Chinese soil this season. 

M15 Akko ISR – Gilbert Klier Junior celebrates his maiden title

The Joyce Eisenberg tournament, which was hosted at ITC Akko, was finished by the triumph of No. 8 seeded teenager Gilbert Klier Junior.

The 19-year-old Brazilian took the last step in the top half of the draw in beating Russian No. 7 seed Alexander Igoshin in three sets.

No. 6 seeded Yshai Oliel from Israel defeated his compatriot Igor Smilansky, who had to retire by the score of 2-3 in the first set, in the stage of the final four.

Klier Junior, who was ranked No. 10 in ITF Juniors last year, broke the service of his contemporary rival six times by losing four service games, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 after two hours and 25 minutes. The Rio de Janeiro resident celebrated his first title on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

M15 Singapore SGP – Scottish teenager Aidan McHugh prevails in Singapore 

No.3 seeded Aidan HcHugh won the title of the M15 Singapore ITF Men 3 tournament, which was held at Kallang Tennis Centre. 

The 18-year Glasgow native, who was ranked No. 8 in ITF Juniors last year, took the last step to the final in beating Indian top seed Manish Sureshkumar in the stage of the last four. 19-year-old Sureshkumar had to retire in the final set, leading by the score of 3-1.

No. 4 seeded Jonathan Gray knocked off Japanese No. 7 seed Kazuki Nishiwaki in the semi-finals in straight sets, to set an all-British title match.

Braking the serve of his 22-year-old rival for four times without losing a service game in the final, HcHugh claimed a 6-2, 6-2 victory, lasting one hour and 37 minutes. Following his two championships in Kuwait last year, he lifted his third singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

M15 Akishima JPN – Yuta Kawahashi claims his maiden title

The Lexus Tokyo Open 2019, hosted at Showanomori Tennis Center, concluded with the surprising win of unseeded Yuta Kawahashi, who celebrated his first singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

The 21-year-old Japanese stopped the title bid of his top seeded countryman Rio Noguchi in the stage of the final four in two sets, to wipe out the last seeded player of the tournament.

Runner-up Yuta Kikuchi, who entered the tournament in the qualifying competition, defeated wild card entry Ryohei Tagata in the all-Japanese semi-finals in three sets.

Both players broke opponent’s serve for nine times in the title match. Lasting two hours and 25 minutes, Kawahashi outpointed his 19-year-old rival 126-112 to secure a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 victory.

M15 Tabarka TUN – Teenager Juan Manuel Cerundolo clinches his maiden title

Juan Manuel Cerundolo is the champion of the Magic Tours tournament, held at Thabraca Magic Hotel.

The 17-year-old Argentinean, who battled through the qualifying, booked his spot in the final by beating Brazilian No. 2 seed Joao Pedro Sorgi in the stage of the last four in three sets.

In the title match, last year’s No. 9 in ITF Juniors faced top seeded Frenchman Antoine Escoffier, who battled past Argentinean No. 3 seed Genaro Alberto Olivieri in the semi-finals in straight sets.

Outpointing his 27-year-old rival 84-73, Buenos Aires native Cerundolo claimed a 6-4, 7-6 win after two hours and three minutes to lift his first trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

M15 Cancun MEX – Gerardo Lopez Villasenor captures back-to-back titles in Cancun

In-form Gerardo Lopez Villasenor claimed the second consecutive trophy of the Cancun Tennis Cup, held at Cancun Tennis Academy.

The 24-year-old Mexican, who entered the tournament on position two, rallied past US-American Christian Langmo in the semi-finals in two tiebreak-sets.

No. 7 seeded runner-up Hady Habib from Lebanon benefitted in the stage of the final four from the retirement of Australian Brandon Walkin after winning the first set with 6-0.

Strucking 12 aces in the title match by withstanding 10 aces from his 20-year-old opponent, Puerto Vallarte native Lopez Villasenor sealed a 7-6, 6-4 victory after one hour and 57 minutes, to celebrate his third exclusively on Mexican soil won trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

M15 Gimcheon KOR – Favourite win of Yuta Shimizu in Gimcheon

Top seeded Yuta Shimizu got the crown of the ITF Gimcheon Men’s Tennis Tour tournament, held at Gimcheon Sports Town Tennis Courts.

The 20-year-old Japanese, who battled past Korean Yong-Kyu Lim in the semi-finals in a tough three-set encounter, faced 21-year-old Frenchman Jean Thirouin in the title match.

Converting five of his seven break point opportunities without facing a break point, left-handed Shimizu secured a final victory against his unseeded opponent with 6-2, 6-0 in 55 minutes. He celebrated his fourth singles title on the ITF World Tennis Tour after winning three championships in 2018.