Contributed by Lin Kuek

SICC, Singapore, Sunday, January 30, 2011 — 25-year-old and 162-ranked Lukas Rosol from the Czech Republic scored one of his best career wins as he knocked out 119-ranked and the second seed of the tournament Go Soeda of Japan, to set up a title clash with former world No. 20 Dmitry Tursunov in the Men’s Singles final of the Singapore ATP Challenger 2011.

The matches were moved from Kallang Tennis Centre to the covered tennis courts at the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) due to the heavy rains. In the semifinal matches that saw filled spectator stands at the SICC, the lanky Rosol scored another close 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over the Japanese Davis Cup member Soeda in 1 hour and 25 mins.

“Based on the seeds, I was only expected to reach the quarterfinals, but reaching the final is a good moment for me. I can probably move up about 20 places with my performance here in Singapore,” said a thrilled Rosol who served up eight aces and achieved an 80% first-serve success rate. “It was a good day for me, I was consistent and played some good tennis.”

In the other semifinal match, Dmitry Tursunov, a strong contender for the title here in Singapore, had a relatively easy 6-4, 6-3 win, taking out giant killer Andrej Martin (A. Martin) of Slovakia. A. Martin had beaten top seed Somdev Devvarman of India earlier in the tournament. Tursunov had only lost 12 points to A. Martin on his serve in both the sets, which was testimony to his service prowess.

“Though it comfortable score wise, my opponent was tricky but I served well and got a lot of free points from my service, which helped. It is not the best of situations to be waiting for a day, then coming back and playing, and finding rhythm, but at this level we have to be prepared and quickly adapt to situations,” said Tursunov.

The winner of the Men’s Singles will walk home with US$7,200 and 90 ATP points while the finalist will win US$4,240 and 55 ATP points. Semifinalists (Soeda and A. Martin) will each take US$2,510 and 33 ATP points.

In the Men’s Doubles Final match, which took place right after the Men’s Singles Semifinals, top seeds David Martin (D. Martin) and Scott Lipsky of the USA captured the title by edging out crowd favorites and second seeds, the Ratiwatana twins, Sanchai and Sonchat of Thailand in a thrilling encounter that spanned three sets (5-7,6-1,10-8). Lipsky and D. Martin now walk away with a total of US$3100 (to be split among the team) and 90 ATP points each. The Thai twins win US$1,800 (to be split among the team) and 55 ATP points each.

“We have a long history with the Ratiwatanas, we know their play and they know ours, but I think we did a great job of changing it up and playing more aggressively,” said an excited D. Martin after the match. “It was a great match and we really enjoyed our time here in Singapore, especially the crowd that came out to watch us play despite the rains and the change in venue. We hope to come back again.”

Due to the rains, the Men’s Singles final match has been postponed to take place on Monday, 31 January 2011, at 10:00am, at the Singapore Island Country Club.