BOGOTA/STARNBERG, October 24, 2021
Gerald Melzer is back in a championship match on the ATP Challenger Tour for the first time in four years. The 31-year-old Austrian stopped the run of Colombian qualifier Nicolas Barrientos 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1 in Saturday’s semi-final of the $52,080 DirecTV Open Bogota.
World No. 421 Melzer, who missed more than two years due to a chronic ankle injury and entered the tournament by protected ranking, struck five aces and won 73 per cent of his first-service points to seal victory in two hours and 11 minutes.
Melzer is seeking his eighth ATP Challenger career crown, his first since Guayaquil, Ecuador in early November 2017. The former World No. 68 will next take on Facundo Mena. The No. 5 seed from Argentina edged past sixth favourite Jesper de Jong from the Netherlands 7-6(3), 7-5. Mena sent down nine aces and converted two of his four break-point opportunities to advance after one hour and 45 minutes.
!Finalísima! 🎾🏆 Duelo de estilos, fuego contra fuego… la batalla está servida. Este domingo viviremos un partidazo de tenis por el título del #DirectvOpenBogotá. @geraldmelzerxiii y @facumena van por la gloria. Nos vemos en el Carmel Club. pic.twitter.com/0mgYdtkPEh
— DIRECTV Open Bogotá (@DirectvOpen) October 24, 2021
The 29-year-old Buenos Aires native is bidding for his third Challenger trophy, his second of the season following his triumph in Quito, Ecuador last month. The pair will meet for the third time. Melzer won both previous meetings with Mena.
In the doubles final, Nicolas Jarry of Chile and Roberto Quiroz from Ecuador are facing No. 4-seeded local favourites Nicolas Barrientos and Alejandro Gomez.
