Daniil Glinka wins his first ever ATP Challenger title
Number two Estonian men's tennis player Daniil Glinka won the ATP 75 Challenger de Drummondville in, Quebec, Canada, on Sunday, his first title at that level.
Glinka, ranked a career high 247th by the ATP, overcame local player Duncan Chan (ATP 1,440th) in straight sets, 6:4, 6:2.
Glinka had reached the second ATP Challenger final of his career just a couple of months after his debut final at that level came in Cassis, France. That time, he lost to Britain's Billy Harris.
On the other hand that strong performance plus reaching an ATP Challenger final a second time not only punted Glinka into the top 300, but also secured him a place in qualifying at the Australian Open, the first time two Estonians (Mark Lajal is already confirmed) have taken part in a grand slam qualifying campaign in independent Estonian history. Glinka's win on Sunday should move him into the top 200 in the ATP rankings too.
In the Canada tournament, Glinka defeated five opponents in the main draw, two of them in three sets, though he was able to get away without facing a single seeded player.
Top seed Liam Draxl lost in the quarterfinals to Poland's Maks Kasianowski, the very person Glinka overcame to reach the final.
Chan, 20, on the other hand is mainly a college player in the U.S.
On Sunday, Glinka, 25, broke Chan's serve once in the first set and twice in the second to take both sets. The Estonian won 72 percent of points on his first serve and as much as 82 percent on his second. Chan's corresponding numbers were 62 percent and 45 percent respectively.
Australian Open men's singles qualifying starts on January 6.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
