Zuk, Miedler and Sijsling secure ITF titles on home soil
Kacper Zuk, Lucas Miedler and Igor Sijsling were all title-winners on home soil in the last week of August as the ITF World Tennis Tour continues to build momentum on its return from a five-month suspension due to Covid-19.
Zuk won the title in his native Poland at M25 Poznan, Miedler won in Austria at M15 Anif and Sijsling won in the Netherlands at M15 Alkmaar to follow on from Manuel Guinard’s triumph at the M25 Vogau tournament the previous week which, along with W15 Oeiras, was the first ITF tournament to take place on the Tour’s resumption.
Twenty-one-year-old Zuk achieved a double triumph for the second time this season, winning both the singles and the doubles alongside compatriot Jan Zielinski in Poznan, to mirror his singles and doubles triumph at M25 Barnstaple in February.
His 7-6(1) 6-1 win over Bulgaria’s Dimitar Kuzmanov in the singles final saw him collect a fifth ITF title - and second on clay - and move within four spots of the career-high singles ranking of No. 302 he achieved in March this year.
Meanwhile, Meidler, the world No. 295, secured his first title on clay – and his first tournament triumph since 2018 – with a 6-1 7-5 triumph over Germany’s Peter Heller in Anif.
Miedler, 24, who reached the last eight at M25 Vogau the previous week (incidentally falling to Poznan runner-up Kuzmanov), admitted his surprise at claiming his ninth ITF singles crown after such a long lay-off from competitive play.
“I was surprised that it went so well after such a long break,” said Miedler. “Usually I am a player that does not return quickly after long breaks. Last week in Vogau I also played two good matches but I struggled in the quarter-final due to little problems on my serve.”
Sijsling raced to the title at M15 Alkmaar, where he defeated Italian Jacopo Berrettini 6-2 6-1 in the final.
The 33-year-old, a former world No. 52, didn’t drop a set throughout the week as he collected his first title on clay since 2011 - and his first on the surface at ITF level since 2006.