Comesana cracks Top 100 after Challenger title; Mpetshi Perricard goes back-to-back

FPT/Sara Hawk

Four of the five ATP Challenger Tour champions Sunday celebrated milestone moments with their title runs, including Argentine Francisco Comesana, who made his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings after winning the Oeiras Open 3.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard lifted back-to-back trophies in Mexico, Belgian Zizou Bergs successfully defended his title in Tallahassee, Florida, and former World No. 31 Lloyd Harris returned to the winners' circle for the first time since 2019.

The 23-year-old Comesana survived a hard-fought week in Portugal, needing a deciding set in four of his five matches, including his second-round encounter during which he saved three match points to beat Elias Ymer.

Comesana, who rose to No. 96 in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings, defeated Frenchman Ugo Blanchet 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in the final to capture the biggest title of his career.

“The trophy will stay in a very special place and today it will even sleep with me,” the five-time Challenger champion Comesana joked in Spanish. “There is nothing more beautiful than being in the Top 100 to win a tournament. It gives me a lot of confidence to win like this. I will not forget those encounters that gave me a push to overcome [difficulty] and not to give up when I was at the bottom.”

^{Francisco Comesana is crowned champion at the Challenger 125 in Oeiras, Portugal. Credit: FPT/Sara Hawk}

Frenchman Mpetshi Perricard won the GNP Seguros Tennis Open in Acapulco a week after triumphing in Morelos. The 20-year-old downed Australian Adam Walton 6-3, 6-3 in the final to extend his winning streak to 10 matches and rise to a career-high No. 124.

Mpetshi Perricard, who has won three of his four ATP Challenger Tour titles in Mexico, did not drop a set en route to the Acapulco title. His championship clash against the 25-year-old Walton was their second meeting in as many weeks, having also won their previous encounter in the Morelos semi-finals.

“I feel great of course. I arrived with high expectations of myself. I had spectacular weeks here in Mexico,” said Mpetshi Perricard, who leads the ATP Challenger Tour with 22 match wins this season. “I have great memories from this month.”

^{Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard triumphs at the Acapulco Challenger. Credit: Jorge Reyes}

Mpetshi Perricard joins Richard Gasquet, Ugo Humbert and Corentin Moutet as the only French players to win four Challenger titles before their 21st birthday.

Bergs ousted American Mitchell Krueger 6-4, 7-6(9) in the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger final to defend his crown and rise to a career-high No. 103. The 24-year-old fought off five set points in the second-set tie-break, in which he trailed 2/6, to collect his eighth Challenger trophy.

“I think it’s a big achievement for myself. To go from last week’s [Sarasota] final, come here to win the title, last year I won here, all of these factors are not easy to deal with,” Bergs said. “I had a tough last year with a four-month injury, so it gives a lot of room to improve the ranking this year. The way I’m playing, the way it’s consistently growing, I think that’s the key to success to keep that level high.”

^{Zizou Bergs wins the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger for a second consecutive year. Credit: Tallahassee Tennis Challenger}

The South African Harris was crowned champion at the Gwangju Open Challenger, where the 27-year-old overcame China’s Buyunchaokete 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the championship match to claim his fourth title at that level and first in five years.

“I am incredibly happy to win the trophy this week, it was a challenging but ultimately great week,” Harris said. “I think the key was just taking it day by day and making sure I'm ready for all the different conditions we played in.”

^{Lloyd Harris wins the Gwangju Open Challenger. Credit: Seo Jin Hwang}

In other ATP Challenger Tour action, Argentine Andrea Collarini won his third Challenger title and first of this season on home soil at the AAT Challenger Santander Edicion Tucuman. The third seed defeated countryman Hernan Casanova 6-4, 7-6(3) in the final after fending off nine of 11 break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"It is very special because it is the first in Argentina and I had the support of my wife and my son,” said Collarini, whose son Benicio was born in December. “Tennis had taken a back seat [when my son was born] but the fact of having tournaments in the country made me come to the tournaments and gave me the possibility to compete and become champion.”

^{Andrea Collarini wins the Challenger 50 in San Miguel de Tucuman. Credit: Omar Erre}