Safiullin survives two championship points, wins Cary Challenger

pTop seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roman-safiullin/sx50/overview'Roman Safiullin/a made a dramatic comeback Saturday at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/cary/7316/2024/results'Cary Tennis Classic/a, where he saved two championship points to claim his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title./p

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The 27-year-old escaped a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mattia-bellucci/b0gg/overview'Mattia Bellucci/a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the final, during which the Italian qualifier led 6-1, 4-1. Safiullin stared down two championship points on serve at 4-5 in the second set, but found a way to turn around the match and lift the trophy after two hours, 53 minutes. Appearing to fade physically in the latter stages, Safiullin let out a sigh of relief when he converted his eighth championship point./p

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ldquo;I just decided to put the ball back [in play], try to let him win it and he made some mistakes and I played some good balls. At the end of the match, I was able to turn it around,rdquo; Safiullin told commentator Rob Werner. /p

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ldquo;It was super humid today. It was really tough with the conditions, but Irsquo;m happy that I managed it. It was a very good test for me ahead of New York, because New York is going to be similar conditions.rdquo;/p

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Following his title run, Safiullin is up seven places to No. 57 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. He was playing just his fifth Challenger event since September 2022./p

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Now 5-0 in Challenger finals, Safiullin is the sixth player inside the Top 70 to win a title this year at that level. Safiullin last year became the first player since a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nick-kyrgios/ke17/overview'Nick Kyrgios/a in 2014 to win a Challenger title and reach the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a quarter-finals in the same season./p

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In other Challenger action, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/damir-dzumhur/d923/overview'Damir Dzumhur/a became the first player this season to win four trophies at that level with his triumph at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/santo-domingo/7201/2024/results'RD Open 2024/a in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The 32-year-old defeated Ecuadorrsquo;s lucky loser a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andres-andrade/ag08/overview'Andres Andrade/a 6-4, 6-4 in the final./p

pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/08/18/19/23/dzumhur-santodomingoch-2024.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/damir-dzumhur/d923/overview'Damir Dzumhur/a in action at the Santo Domingo Challenger." /br /

emsupa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/damir-dzumhur/d923/overview'Damir Dzumhur/a in action at the Santo Domingo Challenger. Credit: Gabriela Ascuasiati/sup/em/p

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Dzumhur won the inaugural edition of the Santo Domingo Challenger in 2015 and nine years later, the Bosnian returned to the winnersrsquo; circle for his 12th Challenger crown./p

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Coming into the tournament, the former World No. 23 returned to the Top 100 for the first time in four-and-a-half years. Dzumhur is up to No. 81 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting him up for his highest ranking since June 2019./p

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Swiss a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marc-andrea-huesler/hh06/overview'Marc-Andrea Huesler/a dropped just one set all week at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/grodzisk-mazowiecki/2789/2024/results'Kozerki Open/a in Poland, where he raced past top seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/vit-kopriva/ki82/overview'Vit Kopriva/a 6-1, 6-4 in the final. The 29-year-old earned his sixth Challenger title and first since April 2022./p

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ldquo;I served well this week, played lots of good tennis and was able to save lots of break points. That helped,rdquo; said Huesler, who dropped serve once all week, having saved nine of the 10 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. ldquo;In the final, as soon as I got a bit tight, my first serve was there, so that really helped me to get through the week. It also allows me to be more aggressive on return and take a couple risks./p

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ldquo;I was not really expecting a lot this week because I didnrsquo;t really have a hard court preparation. I saw that when your expectations are low, then at the end of the week, you are standing here as the winner.rdquo;/p

pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/08/18/19/33/huesler-grodziskmazowieckich-2024.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marc-andrea-huesler/hh06/overview'Marc-Andrea Huesler/a poses with the Grodzisk Mazowiecki ballkids affter the trophy ceremony." /br /

emsupa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marc-andrea-huesler/hh06/overview'Marc-Andrea Huesler/a poses with the Grodzisk Mazowiecki ballkids affter the trophy ceremony. Credit: a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/grodzisk-mazowiecki/2789/2024/results'Kozerki Open/a/sup/em/p

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a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-taberner/te16/overview'Carlos Taberner/a went one step further than his previous weekrsquo;s runner-up finish in Cordenons with a triumph at the a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/todi/8392/overview" target="_blank"Internazionali di Tennis Citta di Todi Sidernestor Tennis Cup/a. The Spaniardrsquo;s consistency helped him down Argentine a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/santiago-rodriguez-taverna/rh59/overview'Santiago Rodriguez Taverna/a 6-4, 6-3 in the final to score his seventh ATP Challenger Tour title./p

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ldquo;Very happy to get this title. Maybe by score, the final was the only match of my last three that I won in two sets, but it was not easy,rdquo; Taberner said. ldquo;It was very, very difficult. Irsquo;m very happy because I think the whole time I played the same level.rdquo;/p

pimg src="/-/media/images/news/2024/08/18/19/29/taberner-todich-2024.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-taberner/te16/overview'Carlos Taberner/a celebrates winning the Challenger 75 event in Todi, Italy." /br /

emsupa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-taberner/te16/overview'Carlos Taberner/a celebrates winning the Challenger 75 event in Todi, Italy. Credit: Yuri Serafini/sup/em/p

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