Bu Yunchaokete has won the ATP Challenger 125 in Birmingham for his first title on grass, after a Sunday that asked both finalists to play twice. Rain wiped out Saturday's semifinals, forcing the last four to play their semis and the final on the same day, and Bu came through a three-set semifinal and then a 2-6 7-6(7) 6-3 win over defending champion Otto Virtanen to take the trophy. The Finn struck 20 aces in the final, and 40 across the day, without managing to defend his title. For Bu, the No. 166, it is a tenth career title at Challenger and ITF level, and the first away from a hard court.
Bu denies Virtanen's title defence in a final of fine margins
Virtanen started the better, taking the opening set 6-2 behind a serve that barely gave Bu a look. The match turned in the second. Bu raced to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak and held on to win it 9-7, levelling the final. Virtanen had the first opening in the decider, holding three break points in the opening game, but converted none of them. Bu made him pay, breaking for 4-2 and serving out the set 6-3. Virtanen's numbers told the story of a player who did little wrong on serve and still lost: 20 aces, almost 88 percent of his first-serve points won, and a single service game dropped in the entire match. Bu needed only one break, in the third set, and the second-set tiebreak, to turn it.
Virtanen's 40-ace day ends without the defence
Virtanen's Sunday began with the match of the tournament. He beat lone seed Kamil Majchrzak 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 7-6(7) in two hours and 40 minutes, three sets and three tiebreaks. He took the first despite facing a break point on his own serve, led the second-set tiebreak 4-3 before dropping the next three points and the set, then, after leading the decider 2-0 and being pegged back to 2-2, survived a final-set tiebreak in which Majchrzak held a match point at 7-6 before Virtanen closed it out 9-7 on his second. He hit 20 aces in that match and 20 more in the final, holding 30 of his 32 service games across the two. On another day it might have been enough to keep the title he won here last year.
Bu comes through on a surface he had barely played
Bu reached the final by ending the home challenge, beating Arthur Fery 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the semifinal, the British wildcard who had knocked out fifth seed Rinky Hijikata on his run. It capped a week that made little sense on paper: before arriving in Birmingham, Bu had played just two main-tour matches on grass in his career and won neither. He had moved to the final without giving much away on serve, beating Lloyd Harris, Billy Harris and then Mark Lajal without dropping a single service game in the quarterfinal. The title is his tenth at this level, and the first that has not come on a hard court.
Ranking movements
The victory in Birmingham gives a huge boost for Bu Yunchaokete. The former world number 64 advances by 36 places up to 130th in Monday's rankings. Virtanen has not managed to cover his points for last year's victory and drops by 24 places down to 158th. Kamil Majchrzak advances by 2 places up to 76th, while Arthur Fery notes the new peak rank of 141th, 13 places higher than week before.