One month after earning the biggest win of his career against Carlos Alcaraz as a qualifier at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Fabian Marozsan captured his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season Sunday to make his Top 100 debut in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings
The Hungarian found more success on the Italian clay, this time at the Internazionali di Tennis Città di Perugia, where he defeated wild card Edoardo Lavagno 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Marozsan did not drop a set en route to his third Challenger crown and upset top seed Pedro Cachin in the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old Marozsan has continued to build momentum since his strong tour-level main draw debut in Rome. The Budapest native cracked the Top 100 for the first time Monday, when he climbed to a career-high No. 91 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following his triumph in Perugia.
“This is a great start for us, we will keep pushing and hopefully make more great results together,” Marozsan said while thanking his team during the trophy ceremony.
In other Challenger Tour action, Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves survived a tough week to be crowned champion at the Open Sopra Steria. The 25-year-old needed a deciding set in all five of his matches, competing for more than 13 hours throughout the week, to lift the trophy in Lyon, France.
In the championship match, Meligeni Alves overcame a second-set slump to oust Swiss Alexander Ritschard 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(7) in two hours, 26 minutes. Ritschard will rue the championship point he had on return at 6/7 in the deciding-set tie-break.
“It was a really crazy week, I played all the matches in three sets, but I managed to keep fighting every match,” Meligeni Alves said. “I’m just so happy to be through. Today the conditions were really tough, so windy. I needed this title because I was working so hard and I think I deserve it.”
Felipe Meligeni Alves celebrates winning the 2023 Lyon Challenger. Credit: Antoine Merlet
A three-time Challenger champion, the Campinas native Meligeni Alves rose to a career-high No. 129.
At the Bratislava Open in Slovakia, Ukrainian Vitaliy Sachko advanced through qualifying and went on a dream run to collect his maiden Challenger Tour title.
The 25-year-old rallied to beat Dimitar Kuzmanov 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(2). Despite serving for the title at 5-4 in the decider, Sachko was pushed to a tie-break before holding his nerve to close the match and reach a career-high No. 187.
Dimitar Kuzmanov (left) and champion Vitaliy Sachko pose at the Bratislava Open trophy presentation. Credit: Bratislava Open
Tour veterans Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori also won Challenger titles on Sunday. The 36-year-old Murray earned back-to-back Challenger titles on grass after defeating #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-4 at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
The three-time major champion Murray, who triumphed at the Surbiton Challenger a week ago, will now seek to extend his 10-match winning streak when he returns to ATP Tour action at the Cinch Championships.
Andy Murray wins the 2023 Nottingham Challenger. Credit: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA
It was a perfect return to action for former World No. 4 Nishikori, who won the Caribbean Open in Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico, where he was playing his first tournament in 20 months. The Japanese star defeated American teenager Michael Zheng 6-2, 7-5 in the final to win his first title at any level since 2018.
The 33-year-old, who underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year, had not competed since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021. Following his run in Puerto Rico, Nishikori moves to No. 492 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Feeling good in Palmas del Mar 👍🏆#ATPChallenger | @keinishikori pic.twitter.com/NISSaKm6MV
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 19, 2023