BIEL/STARNBERG, September 26, 2021
Briton Liam Broady captured his maiden Challenger crown by winning the inaugural Flowbank Challenger Biel/Bienne, an €44,820 ATP Challenger Tour tournament being held at the Jan Group Arena in Biel, Switzerland.
The No. 5 seed defeated home favourite and seventh seed Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-5, 6-3 in Sunday’s singles final. Broady converted three of his eight break-point chances and won 56 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in one hour and 23 minutes.
Worth the wait 💪
Seven years after his first #ATPChallenger final appearance & @Liambroady is a singles champion!#FlowBankChallenger pic.twitter.com/jJ6HYvXxLi
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 26, 2021
Following seven title wins on the ITF Pro Circuit, Broady lifted his first Challenger trophy, his first triumph at a tournament since February 2016. The 27-year-old lefty earned €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.
“I had an amazing week, which I will always remember, as I won my first Challenger title. This is a big moment for me. I made eight finals but never won. I hardly believed any more that I would be able to win such a tournament. The more beautiful it is now,” Broady said.
Huesler and organizers with positive week
“I couldn’t show my best tennis today. Nonetheless, I take a lot of positive things with me from this week,” said Huesler, who appeared in his fourth Challenger final and finished runner-up for the first time. The Zurich native will next compete in next week’s Sibiu Open in Romania trying to defend his title.
Tournament director and head of top sport at Swiss Tennis, Alessandro Greco, stated: “I am very satisfied, on the one hand with the organization, but on the other hand with the performance of the Swiss players. We are doing this tournament for them and they did a very good job.”
