Dominican Republic’s Nick Hardt continued his blistering form by lifting silverware at M25 Denia and scooping the fourth ITF World Tennis Tour title of an increasingly productive season.

Until being crowned champion at M15 Antalya in May, Hardt had claimed just one title since July 2019, but the 20-year-old has since hit top form, particularly on clay, and has snared another three trophies.

For his latest triumph, the 20-year-old navigated the tournament without dropping a set and topped the podium following a closely-fought tussle with France’s Calvin Hemery, which ended 7-6(3) 7-6(5).

Hardt, who has contested five Davis Cup ties on behalf of Dominican Republic, now holds an ATP ranking of No. 394, having risen 119 places in the standings since the turn of the year.

It was a family affair at M25 Portoviejo, meanwhile, as Peru’s Arklon Huertas del Pino, a qualifier in Ecuador, overcame his brother Conner in a pulsating final, eventually edging proceedings 6-1 6-7(0) 7-6(4).

Arklon, the older of the Huertas del Pino siblings, was making his first appearance on the ITF World Tennis Tour since December 2019 when he reached the final at M15 Santo Domingo. It was the 27-year-old’s second professional title.

Elsewhere, there was a first ITF World Tennis Tour title since 2019 for world No. 516 Alexandar Lazarov of Bulgaria, who overcame home favourite Aleksandre Metreveli of Georgia in the final at M25 Telavi.

Metreveli retired from the encounter with Lazarov leading 6-1 1-0, while the latter’s previous ITF World Tennis Tour title came almost two years ago to the day when he dispatched Brazil’s Jordan Correia at M15 Casablanca.

Ben Shelton of the United States, meanwhile, claimed the biggest win of his career and his first professional title at M25 Champaign, defeating Gijs Brouwer of the Netherlands 7-6(4) 6-3 in the final. The 18-year-old left-hander was playing just his fourth professional event.

At M15 level, Eliakim Coulibaly’s love affair with Monastir continued as he conquered all before him on the Tunisian coast for the second time in a matter of months following his victory there in late May.

On this occasion, Coulibaly, who has spoken previously of his desire to drive the ascent of African tennis, recovered from a set down to overpower Italy’s Luca Potenza 5-7 6-2 6-4.

There was a third title of the campaign for Austria’s Filip Misolic at M15 Novi Sad as the 19-year-old downed another Italian, this time Luciano Darderi, in the final. Misolic previously starred at M25 Telfs and M15 Porec this season.

There were first titles of the season for South Americans Gilbert Klier Junior of Brazil and Argentina’s Juan Bautista Torres, at M15 Castelo Branco and M15 Cairo respectively, while Turkey’s Ergi Kirkin stole the show at M15 Vejle.

The ITF World Tennis Tour continues with 13 men’s tournaments this week. Follow all the action here.