England’s Adrian Waller masterminded his second successive upset in the ‘Tour De Las Americas’ Paraguay Open when he lifted the title after defeating top seed Jan Koukal in the final of the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 event in its third year at Club Internacional de Tenis in Asuncion.
But the 21-year-old third seed from Enfield had to overcome defending champion Rafael F Alarcon in order to reach the fifth Tour title of his career.
Alarcon, the world No50 from Brazil, was bidding to win the title for the third time in a row. But Waller, ranked 12 places lower in the world, battled for exactly one hour to beat the 34-year-old from Sao Paulo 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 1
1-6.
Koukal, the Czech number one from Prague, was celebrating his third straight games win in a row in Asuncion when he ousted Argentina’s fourth seed Gonzalo Miranda 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 in the other semi-final.
And when Waller stepped onto the Club Internacional de Tenis court for the final, it was the third time in a row that he had faced 27-year-old Koukal in a Tour event climax since November last year.
The encounter took 70 minutes to resolve: Koukal, ranked 49 in the world and marking his 26th appearance in a Tour final, held the early advantage – but underdog Waller fought back to win 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, and collect the third PSA Tour title of his career.
Picture shows Waller (leftt) with runner-up Koukal
Final:
[3] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [1] Jan Koukal (CZE) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 (70m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [4] Gonzalo Miranda (ARG) 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (31m)
[3] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [2] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6 (60m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Esteban Casarino (PAR) 11-3, 12-10, 11-8 (40m)
[4] Gonzalo Miranda (ARG) bt [Q] Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 12-10 (70m)
[3] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Adrian Dudzicki (CAN) 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 (33m)
[2] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) bt Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 (34m)
1st round:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Fernando Lopez (MEX) 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (25m)
Esteban Casarino (PAR) bt Juan Pablo Roude (ARG) 11-4, 11-1, 11-8 (29m)
[Q] Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) bt Peter Creed (WAL) 13-11, 11-5, 11-5 (37m)
[4] Gonzalo Miranda (ARG) bt [Q] Luke Butterworth (ENG) 11-9, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6 (47m)
[3] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Petr Martin (CZE) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (35m)
Adrian Dudzicki (CAN) bt [Q] Max Camiruaga (CHI) 5-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 (52m)
Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) bt [Q] Steven London (ENG) 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6 (66m)
[2] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) bt Dane Sharp (CAN) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (27m)
Qualifying finals:
Steven London (ENG) bt Andre L’Heureux (PAR) 11-3, 11-4, 11-8 (27m)
Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) bt Josimar Silva (BRA) 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (51m)
Max Camiruaga (CHI) bt Nicolas Caballero (PAR) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (25m)
Luke Butterworth (ENG) bt Pedro Veiga (BRA) 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 (38m)
1st qualifying round:
Steven London (ENG) bye
Andre L’Heureux (PAR) bt Bruno Alvarenga (PAR) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (32m)
Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) bt Cristian Storm (PAR) 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 (30m)
Josimar Silva (BRA) bye
Max Camiruaga (CHI) bt Horacio Decoud (PAR) 11-3, 11-0, 11-3 (17m)
Nicolas Caballero (PAR) bt Juan Caballero (PAR) 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (24m)
Luke Butterworth (ENG) bt David Decoud (PAR) 11-9, 11-2, 11-4 (23m)
Pedro Veiga (BRA) bye
