Paolo Lorenzi enters Sao Paulo in high spirit – Tennis News
Italian contender, Paolo Lorenzi, entered the ATP Challenger Tour Finals after enjoying a spectacular season this year. He is currently on a 37-10 match winning record and is bidding to capture his third year-to-date title at this year-ending event held between top eight players from ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour.
Lorenzi high-spiritedly entered the Sao Paulo line-up. He secured eight title-round appearances and captured two crowns this circuit. The Italian conquered titles at Cordenons (downed Daniel Gimeno-Traver) and Medellin (trounced Leonardo Mayer). He is currently on a 37-10 win-loss record.
The 30-year-old stated in an interview to ATPWorldTour.com:
“I’ve been playing really good on the Challenger Tour. I think it’s been my best season and I’m really happy for that. The level at Challenger events has been higher this season. The quality of the tournaments has been higher, so I’m really happy with that.”
The veteran changed his strategy to being more aggressive on court which was the main reason for his success. He reflected about this in the interview:
“I’ve improved a lot because I was working a lot on my game. I’ve tried to be more aggressive, coming to the net more. I think that was the key to my results this year.”
Currently ranked 63rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Lorenzi captured the title in Medellin earlier this month and is coming off from final showdown at the Guayaquil Challenger (lost top seeded Mayer).
Joining Lorenzi at the Ginasio do Ibirapuera is the Romanian star Victor Hanescu who is seeded top in this event. The local star, Thomaz Bellucci, received a wild card at this indoor hard court tournament. Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene, Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy, Argentina’s Guido Pella, Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer and the Spanish contender, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, will complete the elite eight.
“The field in Sao Paulo is going to be very strong because there are a lot of good players,” the Italian star commented.
Last year, the inaugural ATP Challenger Tour Finals was won by Cedrik-Marcel Stebe who played the ATP World Tour this season. His best performance came at the Mercedes Cup where he made a quarter-final showing.
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