STARNBERG, February 7, 2021
Carlos Taberner is the champion of the MTA Open held at the Megasaray Tennis Academy in Belek, Antalya. The 23-year-old from Valencia emerged victorious from the all-Spanish final with No. 2 seed Jaume Munar, winning 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Taberner battled his way through the top half of the draw of the €44,820 ATP Challenger clay-court event with wins over top seed Joao Sousa from Portugal, Emilio Gomez of Ecuador, No. 3 seeded Argentine Facundo Bagnis and qualifier Tomas Etcheverry of Argentina.
In the title match, the World No. 144 sent down four aces, winning 67 per cent of his first-service points and converted four of his eight break-point opportunities to secure victory in one hour and 45 minutes. It marked Taberner’s third win over World No. 103 Munar in the pair’s sixth meeting.
By lifting his second ATP Challenger trophy, following his maiden triumph at last year’s Iasi Challenger in Romania, Taberner took away from Turkey €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points. The Iberian is projected to reach a new career-high ranking of World No. 129 on Monday.
Carlos the Champion!@Carlos_Taberner claims his second #ATPChallenger crown, taking the title in Antalya. One week after falling to Jaume Munar, the 🇪🇸 gets his revenge 64 61 for the 🏆. pic.twitter.com/hq0LCJaiEy
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 7, 2021
Molchanov/Nedovyesov take doubles title
On Saturday, Denis Molchanov from the Ukraine and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan took the doubles title. The No. 3 seeds defeated No. 4 seeded US-American duo of Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson 6-4, 7-6(2). The encounter lasted one hour and 18 minutes.
The winners split €2,670 in prize money and earned 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
