BRESCIA, November 21, 2015

Igor Sijsling captured the title at the € 42,500 ATP Challenger Trofeo Città di Brescia, winning the final 6-4, 6-4 against Mirza Basic.

In the pair’s first tour meeting, Sijsling fired 12 aces, didn’t face a break point and broke his opponent’s serve two times. The world number 167 won 78% of his first service points to close the match after 52 minutes.

Sijsling, who played his third final of the season, clinched his seventh ATP Challenger career title, his first since 2012. The 28-year-old Hoogstraten resident takes away € 6,150 in prize money as well as 90 ATP ranking points.

“I played my best tennis today and I am very happy with the result. I had a tough match against Luca Vanni yesterday, who served great but I was confident and focused with my shots. I am glad that I closed the match in two sets,” told Sijsling after his triumph.

“I was playing very well in the past weeks, but it’s never easy to win a tournament, even after you’d beaten the top-seed in the draw. I did not expect to lift the trophy today, definitely,” the Dutch added and is looking forward to next year. “Now of course, I’d like there were more tournaments to play, but anyway. The important thing now is to maintain this level of play and still improve for next season, to return early into the top 100.”

Later the day, Mirza Basic also lost the doubles final alongside his Croatian partner Nikola Mektic against Ilija Bozoljac and Igor Zelenay 0-6, 3-6 in only 43 minutes.