German tennis player Dominik Koepfer defeated Argentina’s Thiago Tirante 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 after 2t10 minutes of play in the final of the Challenger 125 tournament in Mexico City. In this way, he won the third title of his career at this level.
tournament results
tournament bracket
Dominik Koepfer He’s a bit far from his best, which saw him in the Top 50 in 2021, but he’s still looking for regularity at 28 years old. Last season, he didn’t get to play many tournaments, as a stress fracture took him off the court for a few months. However, he managed to become the champion Challenger from Calgary and made it to the finals Cary. 2023 only started in February and suffered back-to-back losses in the year Rome, Waco and Puerto Vallarta. In Mexico City He beat Aboian and Popko to qualify and Noguchi, Barrios, Gaio and Neuchrist to be a finalist.
Thiago Tirante He has yet to fully hit his stride on the track, although he is 21 years old and has a lot to offer. Although in 2022 he achieved his best ranking, some injuries prevented him from maintaining regularity. Final in the series Slime challenger and the semi-finals in Ambato and Troyes those were his most notable weeks last season. The year 2023 started with losses Nonthaburi 1quality Australian Open, Concepcionprevious step Córdoba and Buenos Airessemi-finals in ITF Tucumándrop in Santiago and eighth Viña del Mar. In Mexico City he was paired with his best version, edging out Tomic, Olivo, Mejía and Choinski as a finalist.
Koepfer returns to take the title
Dominik Koepfer and Thiago Tirante They faced each other to determine the champion Mexico City Challenger.
The start of the final was largely dominated by the Argentine, who understood the strategy perfectly: accelerate by driving and play into space. After getting a break, he managed to let go and handle the match the way he wanted. The German, for his part, couldn’t find answers to his attacks and everything went very uphill. After escaping a long game where he saved two break points, Tirante continued to attack and got one more break to get into position. 6-2 in 36 minutes.
Knowing he had to react, Dominik showed his guns in the second set, taking risks with the forehand, catching very loose and powerful shots to break and control the set. However, the Argentine was encouraged to fight it out with great effort, encouraged and determined by the local crowd to recover and make it 4-3. In the next game, Tirante got three breaks, but didn’t use any of them. This prompted Koepfer to go looking for him, he managed to break and then at 0 passed 6-4 in 55 minutes.
Already in the decisive set, Thiago felt the effect of the second set noticeably, he looked down and almost without the strength to go looking for it. Seizing his moment, not slowing down and capitalizing on his strikes, the German went 4-0, almost liquidating the shares. Although Tirante managed to hold two games, Koepfer took a considerable lead early on 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 after 2h10min.
