Estonia’s second highest-ranking men’s tennis player Daniil Glinka has secured a place at a Grand Slam event for the first time.
He did so by reached the final of the ATP 75 Challenger de Drummondville in, Quebec, Canada, setting up a first for Estonian sport as both he and Mark Lajal will enter qualifying for the Australian Open in January.
Two Estonian men have never before played in the same Grand Slam event since the restoration of independence, and Glinka’s performance lifts him into the qualification zone at the last minute.
To reach this stage, Glinka, 25, ranked a career-high 247th in the world, beat Poland’s Maks Kasinowski in straight sets in Drummondville, 6–1, 7–6 (4).
Kasinowski(ATP 563th) had upset top-seeded local player Liam Draxl, ranked 120th in the world, in the competition’s quarterfinals.
The entire match lasted 90 minutes; in set one Glinka first held serve in a 12-point game, then broke Kasinowski on his fourth break point in a 20-point game. Glinka had break chances in the Pole’s subsequent service games as well; Kasinowski managed to hold once, but Glinka broke again in the next game and closed out the set on his first set point.
Set two was much tighter, with Kasinowski saving one and Glinka two break points, and the winner decided in a tiebreak. Glinka raced ahead 6:2 in the tiebreak points and converted his third match point.
He will faces 20-year-old local player Duncan Chan, ranked 1440th worldwide, in the final.
Chan had beaten Britain’s Charles Broom (ATP 370) in three sets, 6–7 (3), 6–3, 6–3 in the other semifinal.
Chan is primarily a college player, studying in the U.S., and had never before won a match at Challenger level.
The final is also only the second ATP Challenger final of Glinka’s career and comes soon after the first: In September he lost a three-setter in France to Billy Harris.
The Glinka–Chan final starts at 7 p.m. Estonian time Sunday and can be watched on the Challenger tournament website.
Glinka is already projected to rise to No. 216th in the world whatever happens in the final; a win would lift him into the top 200. Entry lists for the Australian Open main draw and qualifying are determined by the ATP rankings as of 17 November, and a the 230 spot was is needed to secure a qualifying spot.
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