Google News Sunday´s results in Challenger Tour: Max Purcell writes history for his generation. Back-to-back titles for King
by JOVICA ILIC
* Binghamton, USA, $50,000 (Outdoor Hard) : Darian King from Barbados will remember the month of July probably for his whole life, after winning back-to-back Challengers titles and climbing to 161st spot in the rankings.
Following his maiden Challenger crown in Cali, which was also the first for Barbados, King added Binghampton title to his tally, defeating Mitchell Krueger in the final by 6-2 6-3. Darian served better, with solid percentages behind both the first and the second serve, and he saved both break points he faced.
On the other hand, Krueger couldn't put the stronger resistance in his first final at this level, but he will be the leader of the US Open Wild Card Challenge before Lexington. King broke in game 4 with beautiful forehand cross court winner, but he was forced to save 2 break points in the following game, the only he would face.
Krueger had a chance on the second of them, but he sent another groundstroke wide, which was pretty much the story of the match as he is concerned. In game 8 King broke again to take the opener 6-2, with another unforced error from the American.
In the second set King played well in his service games, not letting a break point or deuce to his rival, and he made a crucial move in game 4 when Krueger's forehand landed long, breaking for a 3-1 lead. That was all that he needed to bring the match home with a service winner in game 9, celebrating his second Challenger crown in 3 weeks.
Final result: [6]Darian King (BAR) vs Mitchell Krueger (USA) 6-2 6-3
* Gimcheon, South Korea, $50,000 (Outdoor Hard) : In Gimcheon, Australian qualifier Max Purcell become the first player born in 1998 with Challenger title, after he prevailed over fellow Aussie Andrew Whittington by 3-6 7-6 5-1, saving one match point in the second set tie break.
Purcell, Sydney native, played only his 3rd Challenger event in a career but he managed to do something that the players like Stefan Kozlov and Frances Tiafoe couldn't, and he is now 6th best player of his generation in the ATP rankings, behind Tiafoe, Kozlov, Lee, Mmoh, and Tsitsipas.
It was a very close match, with only 3 breaks in the whole encounter, as they both were saving break points with succession. This fact is even more important when he know that this was the first Challenger final for both players.
Whittington, the more experienced of the two, broke in game 6 of the opening set after solid forehand attack, and that was enough for a 6-3, in what has been a competitive battle from the baseline, on a not very fast hard court.
There were no breaks of serve in the second set, both players had their chances for a break but the result stayed with serve. In game 12, Whittington saved a break/set point with a service winner to enter a tie break. Purcell saved a match point at 6-5 with a solid serve/forehand combination and he clinched the set 2 points later when Andrew missed an easy volley at the net.
After this, Whittington broke his racquet in anger, not only for wasting the match point and losing the set but also because he suffered physically, which was obvious now. In the final set, there was only one player on the court, as Whittington had troubles to run or change directions, and he was forced to retire while trailing 5-1, being in clear pain and needing medical treatment right down on the court.
This spoiled the party for the youngster a little bit, but anyhow this was a great result for him, and it came as a total surprise. Final result: [Q]Max Purcell (AUS) vs [6]Andrew Whittington (AUS) 3-6 7-6(6) 5-1 Ret.
More results on the next page.. ALSO READ: Saturday´s results in Challenger Tour: Krueger, Whittington, Purcell and Ivashka all made their first finals