Favorites are there! The fifth edition of Play In Challenger Lille will see this Sunday (3 pm in Tennis Club Lillois Lille Métropole) Max Purcell (ranked 99th) and Otto Virtanen (ranked 139th), respectively top and 4th seed of the tournament, to be opposed.
The two players have been very expeditive this Saturday, each one in their semi-final. Max Purcell took some time to find the right pace, needing a tie-break to win the first set, before taking the best over Belgium Michael Geerts (ranked 233th), only non seeded player to be in the last 4 (7-6, 6-3 in 1h34). To be noted that Max Purcell played a tie-break in five out of 7 sets he played this week in Lille. «I feel strong to manage this kind of moment », commented the Australian, always so relax as it comes to manage feelings on the court.
A bit later in the afternoon, he captured the title in doubles with his compatriot Jason Taylor against the team Brown and Haq Qureshi after a very intense and spectacular match, with a lot of suspense, 7-6, 6-4 in 1h23.
In the other singles semi final, Finnish Otto Virtanen knocked out Austrian Jurij Rodionov (ranked131st), second seed. A two sets victory with only 4 games lost (6-3, 6-1) in hardly one hour game! Clear and efficient.
