HEILBRONN, June 11, 2023
Andrea Arnaldi is the campion of the 2023 NECKARCUP. The 22-year-old Italian, No. 5 seed of the ninth edition of the award-winning ATP Challenger Tour clay-court tournament, defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina 7-6(4), 6-1 in Sunday’s singles final.
On another sunny and hot day in Heilbronn, Arnaldi overcame a 4-1 deficit in the first set to fight his way back into the match. In front of about 1,200 spectators at the Tennis Club Trappensee, the World No. 106 capitalized on four of his six break-point chances to seal victory in one hour and 26 minutes.
Here, there, everywhere… 🏃♂️💨
With 🔥 points like this, Matteo Arnaldi defeats Diaz Acosta 7-6(4), 6-1 to win the title in Heilbronn#ATPChallenger | @NeckarH pic.twitter.com/Ca067POBv9
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 11, 2023
“This win means a lot to me,” said the Sanremo native. “I didn’t start the tournament particularly well, but I improved from match to match and was now able to celebrate my third Challenger success this year. The victory at the NECKARCUP should now bring me towards 70th place in the world rankings.”
By claiming his fourth ATP Challenger career crown, his third of the season following his triumphs in Tenerife and Murcia, both in Spain, Arnaldi pocketed €19,650 in prize money as well as 125 ATP Ranking points.
Frantzen/Jebens triumph in doubles
Earlier in the day, Constantin Frantzen from Augsburg and Hendrik Jebens of Stuttgart captured their second team title on the ATP Challenger Tour. The all-German combination beat No. 3 seeds Victor Vlad Cornea from Romania and Austrian veteran Philipp Oswald 7-6(7), 6-4 in the doubles final.
Celebrating their second @ATPChallenger team title in style!
Congrats to our 2023 #NECKARCUP doubles champions, Constantin Frantzen & Hendrik Jebens 👏#ATPChallenger #Heilbronn pic.twitter.com/afWzBJnmle
— NECKARCUP Heilbronn (@NeckarH) June 11, 2023
After the match, Jebens thanked the crowd and explained how special it was for him to celebrate such a victory in front of his family. Frantzen was also full of praise for the tournament and the atmosphere: “I have never been lucky enough to reach the semi-finals at tournaments in Germany. There is nothing better at the moment than to win the tournament here at home and with the support of this great crowd,” said the NECKARCUP winner from Augsburg.
Frantzen and Jebens split €8,444 in prize money and earned 125 ATP Ranking points.
New record attendance
The 2023 NECKARCUP was a tournament of superlatives. “The weather was great, we set a new record for spectators and had a field of players that perfectly reflected our slogan ‘Weltklasse-Tennis hautnah’,” said tournament director Metehan Cebeci.
🌞 2023 #NECKARCUP Final Day! 🌞
…and a happy TD 😉#ATPChallenger #Heilbronn pic.twitter.com/0CSo2aJIfy
— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) June 11, 2023
The highlight for the tournament director: “The walk on court of superstar Dominic Thiem at the world’s best Challenger tournament.” More than 9,000 spectators visited the NECKARCUP this year.
“I had said beforehand that if we had 1000 spectators on one day, that would be great. Now we had more than 1000 spectators on four out of eight days, twice even more than 1200. That’s fantastic, I couldn’t be prouder,” Cebeci concluded.
