Estonia's Mark Lajal wins second Challenger trophy of his career

Estonia's top-ranked tennis player Mark Lajal (ATP No. 181) claimed the second ATP Challenger title of his career with a hard-fought victory over American Andres Martin (ATP No. 335) in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The final score was 6–7 (7), 7–5, 7–6 (9).
In a tightly contested marathon final that lasted nearly three and a half hours, the 22-year-old Lajal and the 24-year-old Martin traded breaks in the sixth and seventh games of the opening set. Lajal led the tiebreak 4–1 and 6–4, but Martin rallied to win three straight points from 6–7 down and take the set.
Lajal, who was effective at the net and won 80 percent of points on his first serve in the opening set, scored a decisive break in the 11th game of the second set. At the start of the final set, both players dropped serve twice in a row.
With the score tied at 4–4, Martin held serve at love, then jumped ahead 40–15 on Lajal's serve. But Estonia's No. 1 saved both match points and held serve at love to stay in contention.
In the deciding tiebreak, Lajal fell behind 0–2 but won the next three points and scored another mini-break to go up 6–4. Martin fended off two match points, while Lajal saved three of Martin's before ultimately clinching the victory.
Lajal landed 50 percent of his first serves, won 72 percent of first-serve points, hit 54 winners and committed 62 unforced errors. He converted four of five break points.
This was Lajal's third appearance in a Challenger-level final and his second title. In June 2023, he defeated Beibit Zhukayev in straight sets in Little Rock. He lost his second final last August in Zhangjiagang to Japan's Yasutaka Uchiyama.
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Editor: Anders Nõmm, Marcys Turovski