Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Italian Mattia Bellucci continued their sizzling runs on the ATP Challenger Tour this week as they each claimed their second Challenger title this month. Cerundolo collected the title at the Coquimbo Challenger while Bellucci triumphed in Vilnius, Lithuania. The #NextGenATP stars Bellucci and Cerundolo are among five Challenger champions this week.
Cerundolo defeated countryman Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the championship match to win the Challenger Dove Men+Care Coquimbo 2.
Following his breakthrough season in 2021, when Cerundolo collected a trio of Challenger titles and won the ATP 250 event in Cordoba, the lefty has battled a psoas muscle injury [located in the lower lumbar region of the spine] that forced him to take time off this summer.
Since returning to competition, the Buenos Aires native has made a sudden impact on the Challenger Tour, winning 12 of his past 13 matches, including triumphing in his home city, Buenos Aires, earlier this month. The 20-year-old boasts a 21-8 Challenger-match record this season and the title in Coquimbo lifts him to 136 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Bellucci, 21, extended his match-winning streak to 12 after defeating Turkish qualifier Cem Ilkel 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the final at the Vilnius Open by kevin. The left-hander didn’t drop a set all week until the championship match.
“I’m super, super happy,” Bellucci said. “I played unbelievable tennis for two weeks. 12 matches in a row, I’m also a bit tired.”
“The first set was super difficult to get into the match, I felt tired, especially mentally. Then I was like, ‘Okay, let’s play every point!”
Mattia Bellucci in action at the 2022 Vilnius Challenger.” />
Italian Mattia Bellucci in action at the 2022 Vilnius Challenger. Credit: Saulius Čirba
The week prior to triumphing in Lithuania, Bellucci advanced through qualifying to win his first Challenger title at the Saint-Tropez Challenger. Bellucci is the second Italian #NextGenATP player to score multiple Challenger titles this season (Luca Nardi, 3) and is the youngest Italian to win Challenger titles in back-to-back weeks since 19-year-old Stefano Pescosolido in 1991.
Following his title at the indoor hard court event in Vilnius, Bellucci rises to a career-high No. 156 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Lithuania’s Debut Challenger Making Strong Impressions
In Ambato,…
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