Nishesh Basavareddy claims first Challenger title, Francisco Comesana wins on 24th birthday | ATP Tour

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Basavareddy retains first Challenger title, Comesana wins on 24th birthday

Pouille is nearing a Top 100 return

October 07, 2024

Nishesh Basavareddy will not soon forget Sunday at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Tiburon, California, where the 19-year-old captured his maiden trophy at that level in his home country.

#NextGenATP Basavareddy is the second young American to win on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, along with his fellow Californian, Student Tien, who won at Bloomfield Hills and Las Vegas.

Basavareddy, who fell to Tien in the final at Bloomfield Hills, had lost his last three title matches on the Challenger Tour, but had no trouble in Tiburon. He ran over Eliot Spizzirri 6-1, 6-1 in just 61 minutes. World No. 193 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings was aggressive on his return, dropping just four spots from second place, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I think that’s a big help in my game and probably one of the biggest strengths in my game,” Basavareddy told analyst Mike Cation. “I think that can go a long way because a lot of these guys serve a lot and if you can land serves and get close to a point, I feel like I’m as good as all these guys at the beginning.

“Especially the second place points, my coach always says, ‘The second return points and the second place points won decide who wins every time because everyone can defend their first game and win points there’. If you can protect your second feed and attack the other guys second server, you can win many games. I think that’s been a big focus for me.”

This season marks the first time that multiple young Americans have lifted the trophy in the same year since 2017, when Frances Tiafoe, Michael Mmoh and Stefan Kozlov won. It is only the fifth time in the last 30 years.

Welcome to the club, Nishesh Basavareddy ✊

The 19-year-old cruises past Spizzirri 6-1, 6-1 in Tiburon to claim his first Challenger title!#ATPChallenger | @master pic.twitter.com/6VxzWGdXN6

– ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 6, 2024

Basavareddy, who finished No. 12 in the ITA rankings last May against Stanford University, is the 20th different 2024 Challenger champion with college tennis experience.

Rising five places to 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Basavareddy is aiming for the 20-and-under title at the Next Gen ATP Finals, which runs from 18-22 December. Basavareddy is the third American in the Top 10, along with runner-up Alex Michelsen and seventh-place Tien.

Buenos Aires
In other Challenger action, Francisco Comesana celebrated his 24th birthday in style, saving two tournament points to win the Challenger de Buenos Aires. Argentina’s An-all final featured the top two seeds, Federico Coria and Comesana, respectively. Comesana trailed 4/6 at the second break before winning 1-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Francisco Comesana entertains the home fans in Sunday’s all-Argentine final.” style=”width:100%” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/10/07/14/ 52/comesana-buenosairesch-2024.jpg”>
^{Birthday boy Francisco Comesana entertains the home fans in the All-Argentina final on Sunday. Credit: Challenger de Buenos Aires}

“Since I knew that the final match was going to be on my birthday, I was looking forward to it, because I had never heard anything like this,” said the Challenger champion who has been speaking in Spanish for six years. “All the matches of this tournament were difficult and luckily, I was able to give myself this gift after a lot of suffering.”

Mouilleron le Captif
Frenchman Lucas Pouille continued his breakout year by winning the Open de Vendee at home. The 30-year-old, who is number 101 in the PIF ATP Rankings, aims to return to the Top 100 for the first time since June 2021. The latter is to lift his second Challenger title of the season. The former number 10 in the world has already entered four finals at that level in 2024.

Lucas Pouille celebrates winning his third Challenger title.” style=”width:100%” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/10/07/15 /03/pouille -mouilleronlecaptifch-2024.jpg”>
^{Lucas Pouille celebrates winning his third Challenger title. Credit: Un Oeil Averty}

Braga
Elmer Moller earned his first Challenger title at the Braga Open in Portugal, where he qualified to win his biggest trophy. The 21-year-old Dane beat Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final. Moller, who is No. 171 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, did not drop a set all week.

Elmer Moller plays at the Braga Open.” style=”width:100%” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/10/07/14/58/ moller-bragach-2024.jpg”>
^{Elmer Moller playing in the Braga Open. Credit: Eduardo Oliveira/movesoundclick}

“I didn’t come with high expectations, but doing my best ended up being an amazing week,” said Moller. “I’m very happy.”

Villena
Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak won his third trophy of the year and seventh at the Villena Open. The 28-year-old defeated American Nicolas Moreno De Alboran 6-4, 6-2 in the title match. Majchrzak also won Kigali-1 and Bratislava-1 this year. Following his Villena title run, Majchrzak rose 33 places to reach No. 113 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Kamil Majchrzak wins at Villena Challenger.” style=”width:100%” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/10/07/15/09/ majchrzak-villenach-2024.jpg”>
^{Kamil Majchrzak wins the Villena Challenger. Credit: Villena Open}