Onclin on the up with second pro title | ITF

Onclin on the up with second pro title

Ed Pearson

15 Feb 2021

Gauthier Onclin might only be 19 years old, but he already has two ITF titles to his name, picking up his second following a successful week at M15 Monastir.

The Belgian, who is a former ITF Junior World No. 8, had not recorded back-to-back victories at any level since September last year, but found himself in rude form at a venue that appears to suit his game.

Onclin, who finished runner-up in Monastir in 2020, went one better in 2021 after defeating Austria’s Alexander Erler 6-1 6-4 in the final.

It was the second title of his fledging professional career, having also won M15 Meshref in November 2019.

At the M15 Antalya, Argentina’s Agustin Velotti denied promising Romanian teenager Filip Cristian Jianu in the final with a straight sets 6-3 6-4 victory to earn his first silverware of 2021.

Velotti, 28, has a career-high ranking of No. 166 and has 16 professional titles to his name. Jianu, who is only 19 years old, already has three titles and has reached the final in two of his three outings in 2021.

France’s Lucas Poullain won his third career title on home soil at M15 Grenoble, defeating Germany’s Elmar Ejupovic 6-4 7-6(6) in the final. The Frenchman, 25, has now won one title for the last three years.

Over in St Petersburg it was an all-Russian affair in the M15 final as Evgenii Tiurnev overcame former world No. 39 Andrey Kuznetsov 4-6 7-5 7-5 to win his first title since 2019.

Tiurnev, 23, knocked out British top seed Jan Choinski in the semi-finals en route to a 13th career title.

Poland’s Michal Dembek won the first title of his career as he overcame Italy’s Riccardo Balzerani 6-3 7-6(4) in the final at M15 Nur-Sultan.

Dembek fell in the semi-finals to the eventual winner of last week’s M15 Nur-Sultan, Otto Virtanen of Finland.

And finally, Czech Republic’s Marek Gengel defeated countryman Jan Satral 6-2 6-2 in the final at M15 Sharm El Sheikh to score his third career title – all three of which have come at the same venue.

The ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour continues this week with action in four tournaments, including M25 Naples, FL. Follow the live scores

Read more articles about Gauthier Onclin