Georgia’s tennis star Nikoloz Basilashvili wins German ATP tournament

Georgia's leading tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has claimed his fifth tennis title after winning the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour event in Heilbronn, Germany on Sunday.

The victory comes on the back of Basilashvili’s winning streak of 2016 in which he won a tournament in China and performed well in the Australian Open against world champion Roger Federer.

In Germany on Sunday Basilashvili defeated local favourite Jan-Lenard Struff in two sets of the ATP Heilbronn Challenger final, which saw him claim the top prize of the €64,000 contest.

The final match lasted for an hour and 24 minutes and ended with the result 6-4, 7-6 in Basilashvili's favour.

By overcoming his German opponent, who was ranked 107th in the ATP world ranking, Basilashvili moved up from his 125th world ranking position to 105th place.

Basilashvili defeated five opponents on his way to victory at the ATP Heilbronn Challenger. Photo by Florian Heer/Tennis TourTalk.

To get to the final of the ATP Challenger Basilashvili, Georgia's leading tennis professional, faced and defeated five opponents.

In the first round he beat Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava in two sets 6-4, 6-1. He proceeded to the second round where Basilashvili overcame Blaz Rola from Slovenia 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

The quarter final Basilashvili defeated Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 before meeting Slovakia's Jozef Kovalik in the semi-final.

The Georgian player eliminated Kovalik (1-6, 6-4, 6-3) and proceeded to the final against Struff.

The tournament was held on a clay surface from May 9-15 in Heilbronn.

Basilashvili's latest win represented his fifth ATP Challenger title victory and it comes after his victory in March at the ATP Guangzhou Challenger competition in China.

The Georgian tennis ace hoped to return to the list of Top 100 ranked players this year. He held his career-best 86th world singles ranking in October 2015.

That year Basilashvili reached the third round of the prestigious Wimbledon tournament, while in early 2016 he also played in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The Georgian was eliminated from the Australian competition by 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.