Otto Virtanen (ranked 139th) upset this Sunday in three sets Max Purcell (ranked 99th) 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in nearly two hours and a half, to lift the trophy of the fifth edition of Play In Challenger Lille.
He came in Lille in mission, with the clear idea to go as far as possible and potentially to capture the crown with his status of 4th seed: Otto Virtanen left Lille as a hero, where he overcame Max Purcell, top seed. However, he did not start in the best way, since Australian player won the first set in tie-break, as usual (6th time in 11 sets played). A situation the 99th ATP player perfectly manages, since he won once again this tie-break( 7-3).
Virtanen ranked 109th this Monday
But the Finnish is strong mentally and proved it by relying on his serve (9 aces per match on average on the tournament) to overcome a situation, which was critical for him: he took the service of Purcell in the middle of the second set (6-4) and did it again in the third one to defeat his opponent, 6-2. At the end of the day, an amazing final, with a lot of suspense (2h17 duration) and with a new name at the record of the tournament. Virtanen, qui is ranked 109th from this Monday at the ATP, so follows to Grégoire Barrère (2018 and 2019), Zizou Bergs (2021) and Quentin Halys (2022).
