Piros, Barrios Vera Continue Hot Streaks With Challenger Titles

Two of the hottest players on the ATP Challenger Tour extended their winning runs last week.

Zsombor Piros and Tomas Barrios Vera, who were among five Challenger champions on Sunday, each claimed their second Challenger title of the month and extended their match-win streaks to 10.

The Hungarian Piros earned a 6-3, 6-4 final victory against Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the Oeiras Open 3 in Portugal. The 23-year-old is soaking in back-to-back titles, which have lifted him to a career-high No. 118 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“I’m speechless honestly, I’ve never won this many matches in a row at this level,” Piros said in his post-match press conference. “I actually surprised myself with these results. I think the second step is just believe I can play this level and not to think it happened just once. It [will] give me big confidence for the future. I have some great memories on court but I think this is the most important [one] now. It’s the most special.”

Piros, who won the 2017 Australian Open boys’ singles title, is a four-time Challenger champion. The Budapest native, who won the Split Challenger before travelling to Portugal, has dropped just one set in his past 10 Challenger-level matches and now sets his sights on maintaining his form to qualify for the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid.

Barrios Vera enjoyed a week off after claiming this month’s San Luis Potosi Challenger. But when the 25-year-old returned to action, he went on another title run at the Florianopolis Challenger.

Tomas Barrios Vera celebrates winning the Florianopolis Challenger. Credit: Confederacao Brasileira de Tenis

The championship match in Brazil featured the top two seeds: Chileans Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo. But it was the top seed Barrios Vera who prevailed 6-4, 6-4 to win the ENGIE Open de Tenis. Following the Challenger 75 title, the Chillans native rises to No. 133 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, just nine spots shy of tying his career-high.

In other Challenger Tour action, Belgian Zizou Bergs collected his fifth Challenger title at the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in Florida, where he downed Tung-Lin Wu 7-5, 6-2 to lift the trophy.

The 23-year-old Bergs dedicated his first Challenger title of 2023 to his grandfather, who passed away last month. After winning on the green clay, the World No. 132 shared three core values that his grandfather expressed that he will always remember.

Zizou Bergs triumphs in Tallahassee, Florida. Credit: Tallahassee Tennis Challenger

“Definitely means a lot, it’s been a struggling year,” Bergs told commentator Mike Cation. “I think when I played really good tennis was in Australia at a certain point and then maybe Davis Cup. It’s always been a tough period, looking in the mirror, having a strong tournament, and then another tough period.

“There’s been a lot of tension on myself as well. A lot of pressure. I really wanted to get into the Top 100 for [my grandfather] as well, because I knew he was getting sick and he didn’t have too long anymore. [I was] feeling good, playing good tennis with his core values that I remember: positivity, combativeness, and being solution oriented. These three things are so important for tennis.”

In Italy, Filip Misolic rallied from a set down in the final to defeat Belgian Raphael Collignon 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6) and win the Regione Abruzzo title.

Filip Misolic celebrates winning the Challenger 75 title in Roseto Degli Abruzzi. Credit: Antonio Tommarelli

Now at a career-high 126, Misolic made a splash at last year’s ATP 250 event in Kitzbühel, where the wild card reached the final in his tour-level debut (l. Bautista Agut). Also in 2022, Misolic claimed his maiden Challenger title in Zagreb and earned his first Davis Cup victory against Pakistan’s Muzammil Murtaza in September.

Thiago Agustin Tirante returned to the winners’ circle Sunday, when he defeated top seed James Duckworth 7-5, 6-0 in the final to win the Morelos Open presentado por Metaxchange.

The Argentine, who celebrated his 22nd birthday this month, didn’t drop a set all week in Mexico to lift his second Challenger title and first since September 2021. A 2019 Roland Garros boys’ doubles champion (w/ Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida), Tirante was also a finalist at the Mexico City Challenger earlier this month.

Thiago Agustin Tirante during Sunday's Challenger final in Morelos, Mexico. Credit: Regina Cortina