MAIA/STARNBERG, December 4, 2022
Maximilian Neuchrist knocked out hometown hero and top seed Nuno Borges to reach the singles final of the Maia Open. The 31-year-old qualifier from Austria came back from a set down to triumph 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(1) on Saturday.
In the pair’s first meeting, Neuchrist withstood four aces and broke his rival’s serve two times times. The World 359 outpointed Borges 114-111 to prevail after two hours and 48 minutes.
Qualifier Maximilian Neuchrist upsets hometown hero Nuno Borges 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(1) to reach his maiden @ATPChallenger final here at #MaiaOpen.
“I’m actually surprised that I could make it in three sets today” he just said, visibly emotional in the end. pic.twitter.com/OWL1c0CvFL
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) December 3, 2022
“Today was a tough day. It cost me a lot to play my game and I fell short. I gave what I had, but it wasn’t much and I couldn’t take advantage of my game,” said Borges, who finished runner-up to Chun-hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei in last year’s tournament.
Following 13 title wins on the ITF World Tennis Tour, Neuchrist will now have the chance to clinch his maiden trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour. The Vienna native will take on French teenager Luca van Assche, who rallied past Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in exactly two hours of play.
The 18-year-old French Open Boys’ singles champion of 2021 has reached his second consecutive championship match on the Challenger Tour after Valencia last week, where he lost to Oleksii Krutykh from the Ukraine. Neuchrist and van Assche will meet for the first time.
Cash/Patten triumph in doubles
In other action, Julian Cash and Henry Patten finished their season with a record-breaking 10th doubles title. The No. 2 seeds from Great Britain fought past top seeds Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral from Portugal 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 in one hour and 20 minutes.
Cash and Patten split €2,670 and earned 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
What a way to end the 2022, Julian Cash and Henry Patten! 👑👑
✅ The 🇬🇧 defeat Borges & Cabral in Maia to claim their 10th #ATPChallenger 🏆 of the year
✅ Record for most Challenger doubles titles in a season pic.twitter.com/QTiPguzP5X
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) December 3, 2022
