Max Purcell received the trophy from PMRDA Commissioner Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal in Pune on Sunday. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Australia’s Max Purcell scored a hat-trick of titles on the Indian swing to win the PMR Open $130,000 Challenger tennis tournament, defeating Italy’s Luca Nardi 6-2, 6-3 in the final at the Balewadi Stadium on Sunday. ,
The 24-year-old Purcell, who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Matthew Ebden last year, has since been trying to focus on her singles career. This was the reason why Ebden signed Rohan Bopanna for this season.
Purcell, a two-time Australian Open doubles runner-up, had won earlier challengers in Chennai and Bengaluru in the past fortnight to rise to a career-best singles rank of 116.
The current title, his fifth Challenger singles title, which earned him 100 ATP points and $17,650, is expected to propel him into the top-100 singles rank.
Interestingly, Purcell won his first Challenger title in 2016 in Gimcheon, Korea. His second Challenger title was in 2021 at Nur Sultan in Kazakhstan. Otherwise he has been busy winning 16 doubles titles including Wimbledon.
The 19-year-old Nardi, who had lost to Purcell in the quarterfinals in Bengaluru last week, was rather dominant. He won three Challenger titles last year which helped him achieve a career-best rank of 126.
Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal, Commissioner, PMRDA presented the awards.
Result:
Singles (Final): Max Purcell (Aus) beat Luca Nardi (Ita) 6-2, 6-3.
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