Lajal, 20, Wins Maiden Challenger Title In Just 6th Outing

Nelson Chenault

Mark Lajal enjoyed a surprise run this week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he became the first Estonian to win a Challenger title before his 21st birthday. While he surged to his maiden Challenger crown, Francisco Comesana and Ivan Gakhov both added to their tally of Challenger titles.

Despite the hard-court event being Lajal’s sixth tournament at the Challenger level, he dropped just one set all week and defeated qualifier Beibit Zhukayev 6-4, 7-5 in Sunday’s final at the UAMS Health Little Rock Open. In the second round, the 20-year-old upset top seed Tung-Lin Wu.

“It was a great week here in Arkansas, my first time here,” Lajal said. “I really enjoyed it here, the whole organisation, the hospitality, it was perfect. I felt really good from the first day that I was here, I felt something that I hadn’t felt before. If someone would have told me a week ago that I would win the tournament, I would not have believed them.”

At a career-high No. 230 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, Lajal joins Jurgen Zopp as the only Estonians to win titles on the Challenger Tour. Zopp, who reached a career-high No. 71 in 2012, retired from pro tennis three years ago.

Comesana claimed his third Challenger title and first of this year in Vicenza, Italy. The 22-year-old Argentine rallied to beat Pablo Llamas Ruiz 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the championship match at the Trofeo FL Service - Città di Vicenza. Despite being far from Argentine soil, Comesana stated that he felt at home on the Italian clay.

“The people of Vicenza supported me very much,” Comesana said during the trophy presentation. “There were many Argentine shirts in the stands and it gave me great pleasure.”

A finalist the week before at the Skopje Challenger, Comesana went one step further to extend his hot streak, which has helped him climb to a career-high No. 189 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Gakhov needed a deciding set in three of his five matches to capture his second Challenger title of the season at the Saturn Oil Open in Troisdorf, Germany. The lefty defeated Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the final after winning 40 of 52 first-serve points.

^{Ivan Gakhov is crowned champion in Troisdorf. Credit: Juergen Hasenkopf.}

"I played exceptionally well here, and it was fun being in Troisdorf,” Gakhov said. “It's very relaxed here, and the people are friendly. Moreover, I played really good tennis today, and I'm especially satisfied with my mental attitude.”

Gakhov, 26, is enjoying his career-best season. Shortly after winning the Girona Challenger in April, he qualified for his maiden ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo and faced 22-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the first round. Following his title in Troisdorf, Gakhov is at a career-high No. 144 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.