A LOOK BACK
Verrazzano Open (Sophia Antipolis, France): Aljaz Bedene cruised to his second ATP Challenger Tour title of 2017 (Irving, U.S.A.) without dropping a set. The Brit needed just 69 minutes to dismiss top seed Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-2 in Sunday’s final.
A rejuvenated Bedene, who is now 10-0 on the Challenger Tour in 2017 and improves to a staggering 13-2 in career Challenger finals, rises to World No. 76 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
World No. 1 Andy Murray helped present the trophy to his countryman Bedene. Murray has been training at the tournament venue, the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, ahead of his return to the ATP World Tour at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters later this month.
Great week in Sophia-Antipolis @mouratoglouacademy. Nice to receive the trophy from royalty in @andy_murray as well pic.twitter.com/wOrIOpr5C5
— Aljaz Bedene (@AljazBedene) April 9, 2017
Visit Panama Tennis Cup (Panama City, Panama): Tennis returned to Panama on the ATP Challenger Tour following a two year absence. 2012 champion Rogerio Dutra Silva won his ninth Challenger title and second of the season (Santiago, Chile) with a commanding 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Peda Krstin.
His reward is a 14-place jump to a career-high ranking of No. 69 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, becoming the Brazilian No. 2, just four spots behind his countryman Thomaz Bellucci. The 33 year old is one of six players with multiple titles this year, joining Bedene, Adrian Mannarino, Jurgen Melzer, Yuichi Sugita and Janko Tipsarevic.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
"It was a perfect week for me,” said Bedene. “This tournament is at the ATP World Tour level, that's for sure. I feel great winning this title and I was consistent throughout the tournament, so it's a good sign for the future."
A LOOK AHEAD
Two clay court tournaments are scheduled on the Challenger Tour this week. Barletta in Italy hosts the €43,000 Open Citta' Della Disfida.
The event, first held in 1997, has Gastao Elias playing as the top seed. 2011 and 2012 champion Bedene will target more Challenger success following his trophy haul in Sophia Antipolis. Defending champion Elias Ymer (d. Pavlasek) represents the #NextGenATP contingent along with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Over in Mexico for the $50,000 San Luis Open and Facundo Bagnis enters as the top seed, ahead of No. 2 Gerald Melzer and #NextGenATP player Stefan Kozlov.
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