Top seed Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) and fifth seed Ivan Dodig will play for the Canberra $75K ATP Challenger title on Saturday after winning today’s semifinals in contrasting styles.
Dodig and third seed Daniel Munoz de la Nava (ESP) faced off in the first semifinal. Dodig came out of the blocks quickly, breaking Munoz in his opening two service games, racing to a 5-0 lead. Munoz finally got on the scoreboard before Dodig served out the set 6-1. The second set remained on serve early, before Dodig broke at 2-2. Dodig broke again at 5-3, to close out the match 6-1, 6-3 in 71 minutes.
Lorenzi and Marcel Granollers (ESP) put on an amazing display of tennis which lasted almost 3 hours. After three consecutive breaks of serve, Lorenzi went up 5-2. Granollers then fought back to level the scores at 5-5, before Lorenzi broke again at 6-5 to take the set. After trading breaks early in the second, play remained on serve to take it to a tiebreak. Granollers dominated the tiebreak, taking it 7-0 to force a third set.
The third set was all Lorenzi as he went out to a 5-2 lead with a double break. He served for the match and was just two points away, when Granollers again fought back to break twice and level at 5-5. Granollers service game, then had 7 deuce points before Lorenzi broke again. Lorenzi served it out to take the match and secure his finals birth.
In the doubles final, top seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) and Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) took on the Australian pairing of Jarryd Chaplin (NSW) and Maverick Banes (QLD) who were playing together for the first time in over 5 years. The Australian’s had been in good form all week knocking out both the second and forth seeds on their way to the final.
After a closely contested first set, it headed into a tiebreak. The top seeds prevailed, taking it 7-3. Things remained on serve in the second until 4-3, when Fyrstenberg and Gonzalez broke. They served out the match and claimed the doubles title 7-6, 6-3.
Saturday’s order of play and the draws can be found here. Entry into the Canberra Tennis is free with shade cover over seating on centre court. The final will commence at 1pm.
Live scoring is available here. Live streaming is available here
The Canberra $75K ATP Challenger will be held at the Canberra Tennis Centre from 9-16 January, 2016. The event is part of the Australian Pro Tour and will provide local and international players a lead-in to the Australian Open 2016.
The tournament was announced in November after the success of the Canberra International and as part of the Tennis ACT calendar of events secured through the redevelopment of the Canberra Tennis Centre.
The redeveloped Canberra Tennis Centre features 28 tennis courts – including synthetic grass, Italian clay and hardcourt surfaces – as well as four ANZ Tennis Hot Shots courts. The venue will also host back-to-back Pro Tour events in March 2016 to be contested on clay.
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