SIBIU/STARNBERG, September 25, 2023
Nerman Fatic from Bosnia and Herzegovina successfully defended his title by winning the 2023 BCR Sibiu Open. The No. 8 seed of the ATP Challenger Tour 75 tournament held on clay at the Tenis Club Pamira in Sibiu, Romania, defeated his compatriot and third favourite Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final.
Fatic battled his way to the championship match with wins in the top half of the draw over Romanian qualifier Vlad Andrei Dancu, Riccardo Bonadio of Italy, fourth-seeded Russian Ivan Gakhov and top seed Zsombor Piros of Hungary.
In a rematch of last year’s final, the 28-year-old Sarajevo native converted four of his seven break-point chances to secure victory in one hour and 47 minutes.
A touch of class 👌
With 🔥 points like this, Nerman Fatic gets past Dzumhur 6-2, 6-4 to win the title in Sibiu#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/hILKHxNeqr
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 24, 2023
“It’s a complete madness for me to win this tournament two years in a row. I can’t even begin to describe what I’m feeling right now,” said Fatic.
“I want to congratulate Damir. He’s an exceptional player, my friend, and it’s never easy to play against him. But here we are, playing the Sibiu final for the second time, and I hope we play finals together every week on the circuit. I want to thank everyone; the organization here is amazing, you’ve worked wonders with the court after today’s rain, and the playing surface was very good. And even if I win a Grand Slam, Sibiu will always be number one for me.”
By lifting his second ATP Challenger Tour career trophy, Fatic earned € 9,880 in prize money as well as 75 ATP Ranking points.
