Molcan’s Maiden Moment In Liberec

Alex Molcan (photo: LTK – Liberecký tenisový klub/Facebook)

LIBEREC, August 8, 2021

Alex Molcan of Slovakia captured his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour by winning the Svijany Open 2021 hosted by the Liberecký Tenisový Klub in Liberec, Czech Republic. The No. 8 seed of the €44,820 clay-court event cruised past seventh seed and local favourite Tomas Machac 6-0, 6-1 in Sunday’s singles final.

Molcan battled his way into the championship match with wins over Dutch veteran Robin Haase, Czech wild card entry Dalibor Svrcina, No. 3 seed Kamil Majchrzak of Poland and Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri.

The World No. 313 saved all three break points he faced and capitalized on five of his own 10 break-point opportunities to secure victory in 57 minutes.

“I’m really happy that I finally managed to break my bad luck in finals and win the tournament,” said Molcan. “I played really well in all the matches in Liberec. The positive thing for me is that I was able to keep the level of my game high throughout the week.”

After four title wins on the ITF Pro Circuit, Molcan hoisted his first Challenger trophy, his first tournament win since 2018. The 23-year-old lefty from Presov, who finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the ATP 250 Belgrade Open in May, pocketed €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.

Jebavy/Zelenay take doubles title

On Saturday, Roman Jebavy from the Czech Republic and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia took the doubles title. The No. 3 seeds battled past Frenchmen Geoffrey Blancaneaux and Maxime Janvier 6-2, 6-7(6), 10-5. The encounter lasted one hour and 36 minutes.

Jebavy and Zelenay split €2,670 in prize money and earned 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.