In-form Sijsling and Grigelis capture third ITF singles titles of 2020
Igor Sijsling secured his third title of the season on the ITF World Tennis Tour – and second at M25 level – after triumphing at M25+H Rodez.
The former world No. 52 defeated fellow Dutchman Jelle Sels 6-3 6-3 to win his 20th professional singles title and 13th at ITF level, to add to his wins at M25+H Plaisir in August and M15 Alkmaar in September.
Sijsling has been in fine form on the ITF World Tennis Tour this year, with his latest triumph improving his win-loss record for the season to 27-4, including a 15-1 record on hard courts and 10-1 record on clay.
He narrowly missed out on a first doubles title of the year after he and partner Glenn Smits fell to French duo Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
Meanwhile, Pablo Vivero Gonzalez won his second title of the year – and 13th ITF singles title overall - after beating American Felix Corwin in the final at M15 Sharm El Sheikh.
In beating Corwin 7-5 5-7 6-2, the 25-year-old Spaniard repeated his triumph at the same venue in February. Gonzalez has only played one tournament since that triumph – a first round defeat to Mischa Zverev in Porto in October – but Sharm El Sheikh is clearly a happy hunting ground for him, with his last four titles coming in the Egyptian city.
Laurynas Grigelis extended his winning streak to 15 straight matches after collecting his third title in a row at M15 events in Monastir. The 29-year-old Lithuanian, whose last defeat came in a straight sets loss to Russian Kirill Kivattsev at the same venue, has gone on to dominate the hard court event, subsequently notching three titles in a season for the first time since 2017.
Grigelis, who also reached the final in the doubles event but ultimately finished runner-up alongside partner Lukas Mugevicius, collected his 26th professional singles title after edging past Daniel Michalski 5-7 7-5 7-6(8) in a thrilling final.