LEXINGTON, August 1, 2021

Jason Kubler from Australia won the 2021 Kolbier Foundation Lexington Challenger with a thrilling three-set win Sunday afternoon, knocking off sixth-seeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center in Lexington.

“Every match I played this week was like that,” Kubler said after the match. “Coming directly from Khazakstan, it was a lot to get going here and I was fighting all the way. Today’s match was a flip of the coin between myself and Alejandro. He played great. I’d say that I was able to return a little better than him, but he served better than me – so it was a great final. I didn’t play my best tennis this week, but I played good enough to win a great tournament.”

Back in the winner’s circle 👏

After struggling with wrist & knee injuries for the past two years, Jason Kubler claims his first title since 2019, defeating Tabilo 7-5, 6-7(2), 7-5 in Lexington #ATPChallenger | @LexChallenger pic.twitter.com/EfKsW9WaGY

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 1, 2021

Kubler broke at 6-5 in the first set, using his strong return game to his advantage, as he was able to grab the early lead and go up a set to love in the match.

Tabilo grabbed the first blood in the second set, breaking Kubler within the first four games before the 28-year-old Aussie broke right back to level the set and eventually forced it into a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, after the first four points were split, Tabilo won the next four points thanks to some timely forehands and a few service miscues from Kubler which opened the gate to a third set.

In the third set, Kubler took control early, but Tabilo broke at 3-4 when the World No. 272 was serving and leveled things at five all in the decisive frame. Following a hold by Tabilo, to get things level, Kubler broke right back and had 40-0 in the 5-4 game and three match points. After two errors, Kubler cleaned things up at the service line and was able to close out a 7-5 third set after two hours and 57 minutes.

By lifting his sixth ATP Challenger career trophy, his first since Gatineau 2019, Kubler earned $7,200 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.

Wild card entries take doubles title

On Saturday, Liam Draxl and Stefan Kozlov won the battle of the wild card entries to claim the doubles title. The Canadian-US-American duo defeated Alex Rybakov and Reese Stalder from the United States 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7. The encounter lasted one hour and 37 minutes.