Israeli star defeats American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the final of the Lexington ATP Challenger tournament in Kentucky.
By ALLON SINAIharel levy davis win 248 88(photo credit: AP)
Harel Levy claimed his first title in two years on Sunday, defeating American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the final of the Lexington ATP Challenger tournament in Kentucky.
The 30-year-old Levy (179 in the world) has been in scintillating form in recent weeks, helping Israel to the semifinals of the Davis Cup with two victories in the 4-1 win over Russia, and he will now surely be hoping to build on this new-found momentum and perhaps even make one last surge at the world's top-100 in the twilight of his career.
Levy's first title since he won the Manchester Challenger event in July 2007 will see him move up more than 20 places in Monday's world rankings, bringing him ever closer to the world's top-150.
Dudi Sela (29) will play in the LA Tennis Open this week and, after receiving a first round bye as the No. 4 seed, is now waiting for the winner of the first round match between Americans Vincent Spadea and Robert Kendrick.
Meanwhile, Nikolay Davydenko won his first title of the year on Sunday, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2 in the German Open final.
The second-seeded Davydenko captured the 15th title of his career and became the first Russian to win the clay-court tournament. Mathieu, the 13th-seeded Frenchman, was playing his first final of the year.
Davydenko last won a title in Warsaw 13 months ago before injuries forced him to miss four months at the start of 2009.
AP contributed to this report.
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