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American tennis player Brandon Holt clinched his second ATP Challenger singles title of the season with a fluent 6-3 6-3 win over Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki in the summit clash of the 2025 Bengaluru Open, the tournament's ninth edition, on Sunday. Consequently, the 26-year-old became the first American winner in the Bengaluru Open's history.
Serving first in the midst of a packed house at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium, third seed Holt, son of Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin, saved two breakpoints in the very first game before capitalising on Mochizuki's unforced errors to go up a break. The American set the early trend with his lethal serves, forcing his opponent on the back foot and racing to a 3-0 lead. He then broke again in the sixth game, overturning a 0-30 deficit to extend his advantage to 5-1. Mochizuki found his rhythm late in the first set, breaking Holt in game seven without dropping a point before holding serve with a series of commanding winners. Holt, who had won the Nonthaburi Challenger earlier in the year, countered Mochizuki's baseline play in the next game, however, charging the net to set up two set points before sealing the opener 6-3. Watching from the commentary box, Indian tennis icons Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Somdev Devvarman, and Vishnu Vardhan analysed every move as the first set came to a close after 36 minutes. The second set took a similar shape to the first, with Holt seizing the upper hand by breaking Mochizuki twice on either side of his own successful service game to race to a 3-0 lead. Charged by the crowd's relentless support, the Japanese though came roaring back into the tie, converting one of three breakpoints in game four before holding his serve in the following game. As the set wore on, rallies between the two players became longer, much to the delight of a cheerful crowd, which erupted in celebration when Mochizuki hit an outstanding forehand cross-court winner in the eighth game. Holt, nonetheless, stood firm and nipped his opponent's momentum in the bud, setting himself up for the win. Holt broke Mochizuki again in the ninth game to wrap up the victory in an hour and 22 minutes. Through his dominant win, Holt received a cash award of USD 28,400 and 125 crucial ATP points for his effort, while Mochizuki pocketed USD 16,700 and 75 points. A day earlier, top seeds Anirudh Chandrasekar and Ray Ho beat second seeds Blake Bayldon and Matthew Christopher Romios 6-2, 6-4 to win the doubles title. (ANI)
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