Koepfer and Parrizas Diaz claim Workday Canberra International titles

Men’s top seed Dominik Koepfer from Germany and Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz have had straight sets wins to claim the ATP Challenger 125 and WTA 125 titles in Canberra.

First it was world no. 123 Parrizas Diaz that fought past Britain’s world no. 120 Harriet Dart, winning 6-4, 6-3.

Both players ended the match with a left thigh taped, it was Dart that needed her thigh taped during the match.

In the opening set there were three breaks of serve with the Spaniard getting the upper hand.

In the second set Parrizas Diaz was able to break twice to cruise to victory in just under 59 minutes.

The 32-year-old Spaniard was more solid on serve and had a 77% first serve while Dart struggled with 48% of first serves in.

Dart was in tears after her loss but has to be happy with making the final after being sick during the week.

Parrizas Diaz will move to no. 106 in the rankings and has a career-high rank of no. 45 achieved in March 2022.

Dart moves to no. 112 as she looks to better her career-high rank of no. 84.

Koepfer dominates to take title

Germany’s world no. 77 proved too strong for Czech player Jakub Mensik the world no. 167.

Koepfer was always in control and took the match 6-3, 6-2. Mensik had the trainer give him treatment for an arm injury in the second set.

Mensik went into the match with a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head after defeating the German in the Prague Challenger tour final in May last year, something Koepfer had not forgotten.

It was Mensik that had the most break point opportunities in the opening set, however he was not able to convert any of the six that he had earned. Koepfer had two opportunities and claimed one.

In the second set the German didn’t face a break point while at the same time breaking his opponent twice in the third and fifth game.