Kuhn Clinches Segovia Challenger Title At El Espinar

Nicola Kuhn (photo: Pedro L. Merino and Alberto Simón)

SEGOVIA, August 5, 2019

Nicola Kuhn has returned to the winners’ circle taking his second ATP Challenger Tour title, his first on home soil. The 19-year-old Spaniard claimed the trophy of the Open Castilla y Leon Villa De El Espinar Segovia. Kuhn defeated No. 10 seeded Russian Pavel Kotov 6-2, 7-6(4) in Sunday’s singles final.

No. 5 seed Kuhn advanced to the title match with wins over Nicolas Barrientos of Chile, Illya Marchenko from the Ukraine, Altug Celikbelik of Turkey and Markus Eriksson from Sweden without dropping a set. The teenager sent down five aces, winning 78 per cent of his first service points to secure victory in one hour and 32 minutes.

Following his maiden triumph in Braunschweig two years ago, Kuhn hoisted his second ATP Challenger trophy. The Innsbruck native collected €9,200 in prize money as well as 90 ATP Ranking points. Kuhn rises to a new career-high ranking at World No. World No. 184 on Monday.

“Great week and feeling in @tenis_espinar, which finishes in a new title! Thank you to all the public who came all week long and also who followed it live on TV. Thank you to my team, my parents and sponsors, who have always being next to me! Kuhn wrote on twitter.

On Saturday, Sander Arends and David Pel from the Netherlands clinched the doubles title. The top seeds of the €46,600 hard-court event defeated the all-Brazilian duo of Orlando Luz and Felipe Meligeni Rodrgigues Alves 6-4, 7-6(3). The encounter lasted one hour and 18 minutes. Arends and Pel claimed their second team title of the season following their win at the Tampere Open last week.