CALGARY/STARNBERG, November 13, 2023
Canadian youngster Liam Draxl captured his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour by winning the Calgary National Bank Challenger held indoors at the at the Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre. The 21-year-old upset top seed and defending champion Dominik Koepfer of Germany 6-4, 6-3 in Sunday’s singles final.
Draxl, who entered the main draw of the $80,000 hard-court event with a wild card, battled his way to the championship match with wins over seventh-seeded Belgian Kimmer Coppejans, Luke Saville from Australia, Spanish qualifier Inaki Montes-de la Torre and US-American Andes Martin.
The World No. 430 withstood four aces in the final and broke his rival’s serve three times to succeed in one hour and 21 minutes.
Maiden Challenger title on home soil 🇨🇦🤩
21-year-old @liamdraxl takes down No.1 seed Koepfer 6-4, 6-3 to become the first ever Canadian champion of the @YYCNBChallenger#ATPChallenger | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/DL115lZDFU
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 13, 2023
“Challenger win number one. I couldn’t be more pumped,” said Draxl, who graduated from the University of Kentucky, after his maiden victory. “Coming to this tournament and going all the way to winning it — you know I’ve only made a quarterfinal before — I don’t think maybe it’s sunk in yet.”
Draxl pocketed $10,840 in prize money as well as 75 ATP Ranking points.
