PAU, March 1, 2020
Ernests Gulbis has clinched his first title since 2014 by winning the second edition of the Terega Open Pau-Pyrenees held at the Palais des Sports de Pau. The 31-year-old from Latvia defeated Polish wild card entry Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final of the €92,040 ATP Challenger tournament.
Gulbis, currently ranked World No. 220, battled through the bottom half of the draw with wins over Swedish teenager Leo Borg, Alex Molcan from Slovakia, No. 12 seeded Frenchman Quentin Halys and Russian veteran Teymoraz Gabashvili. World No. 1,039 Janowicz, who is still on his comeback trail after struggling with knee injuries, knocked out top seed Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic en route to the his first championship match since finishing runner-up to Maximilian Marterer in Eckental, Germany in November 2017.
Six-time ATP Tour champion Gulbis struck 11 aces and won 90 per cent of his first-service points in the final to secure victory in one hour and nine minutes. The former World No. 10 lifted his fifth ATP Challenger career trophy, his first since Mons, Belgium in October 2007. Gulbis took away from Southern France €12,250 in prize money as well as 100 ATP Ranking points.
Welcome back to the winners’ circle, Ernests Gulbis!
The 🇱🇻 has his first title since 2014 and first at the #ATPChallenger level since 2007, prevailing in Pau.@TeregaOpen pic.twitter.com/vja5lCXdQx
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 1, 2020
French duo secured doubles title
Earlier in the day, Benjamin Bonzi and Antoine Hoang took the doubles title in Pau. The unseeded French duo beat Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Florin Mergea of Romania 6-3, 6-2. The encounter lasted 59 minutes.
🇫🇷 Antoine Hoang et 🇫🇷 Benjamin Bonzi remportent le titre en double grâce à leur victoire nette et sans bavure sur la paire composée de 🇷🇴 Florin Mergea et de 🇮🇹 Simone Bolelli : 6/3 6/2.#TOPP20 #terega #tennis #villedepau #openpau #ATP #RaceChallengerFrance pic.twitter.com/cQnzjHCQOM
— Teréga Open Pau-Pyrénées (@TeregaOpen) March 1, 2020
