Max Purcell wins a hat trick of Challenger titles in India

Max Purcell receives the trophy from PMRDA Commissioner, Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal in Pune on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Max Purcell of Australia made it a hat trick of titles on the Indian swing, as he won the PMR Open $130,000 Challenger tennis tournament, beating fourth seed Luca Nardi of Italy 6-2, 6-3 in the final at the Balewadi Stadium on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Purcell, who had won the Wimbledon doubles title with Matthew Ebden last year, has since been trying to focus on his singles career. That was the reason for Ebden to tie up with Rohan Bopanna for this season.

The two-time Australian Open doubles runner-up, Purcell had won the earlier Challengers in Chennai and Bengaluru over the earlier fortnight, to reach a career best singles rank of 116.

The current title, his fifth Challenger singles title, that fetched him 100 ATP points and $17,650, is expected to put him in the top-100 singles rank.

Interestingly, Purcell had won his first Challenger title in 2016 in Gimcheon, Korea. His second Challenger title was in 2021, in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan. He has otherwise been busy, winning 16 doubles titles, including the one at Wimbledon.

The 19-year-old Nardi had lost to Purcell in the quarterfinals last week in Bengaluru, rather tamely. He had won three Challenger titles last year that helped him reach a career best rank of 126.

The Commissioner of PMRDA, Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal, presented the prizes.

The results:

Singles (final): Max Purcell (Aus) bt Luca Nardi (Ita) 6-2, 6-3.

= = = EOM