#NextGenATP Gaubas survives three-hour final, wins first Challenger title

#NextGenATP Vilius Gaubas tossed his racquet in relief and threw his hat down on the Italian red clay. Covering his face with his hands, the 19-year-old had just clinched a milestone moment in his young career. Gaubas on Sunday won the Serena Wines 1881 - Acqua Maniva Tennis Cup, his first ATP Challenger Tour title.

Gaubas, the youngest of three Lithuanian champions in Challenger history (since 1978), rallied past Spaniard Carlos Taberner 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a three-hour, two-minute title match amidst humid conditions. The teen failed to serve the match out at 5-3 in the decider, but quickly rebounded to triumph in his third Challenger final.

“Amazing sensations,” Gaubas said in his on-court interview. “I lost the first set, it was very difficult. Carlos was playing very good. It was very hot, humid. Then in the end, I just tried to enjoy it and play my best. Winning it was an amazing feeling.”

Seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Gaubas is aiming for his maiden trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December.

“For the end of the year, I think one of my goals is to enter the Next Gen tournament and hopefully I can get into US Open qualifying,” said Gaubas, who is at a career-high World No. 186 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Jacob Fearnley is also at a career-high, No. 162, following his title run at the Lincoln Challenger. Having competed in just three Challenger tournaments this year, the 23-year-old who graduated from Texas Christian University in May has lifted the trophy at two of those appearances. The Briton raced past #NextGenATP Coleman Wong 6-4, 6-2 to win the hard-court event in Lincoln, Nebraska.

^{Jacob Fearnley celebrates winning the Lincoln Challenger. Credit: Lincoln Challenger}

Fearnley won his first Challenger title in June, when he triumphed on the Nottingham grass, claiming the trophy as the then-World No. 525. He won his first major main-draw match at Wimbledon and took a set off seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round.

The in-form Hugo Dellien collected his third Challenger title in the past two months with a dominant run at the Bonn Open in Germany. The 31-year-old Bolivian, who beat Maximilian Marterer 7-6(2), 6-0 in the final, did not drop a set across five matches.

^{Hugo Dellien wins the Challenger 75 event in Bonn, Germany. Credit: Bonn Open}

Argentine Facundo Mena won his fourth Challenger title and first this season at the DirecTV Open Bogota, where the sixth seed defeated Brazilian Mateus Alves 6-4, 7-5 in the final. Mena, 31, went one step further than his two final appearances in June (Santa Cruz, Ibague).

^{Facundo Mena in action at the Bogota Challenger Credit: DirecTV Open Bogota}