Spanish ace Enrique López Pérez clinched his first ATP Challenger Tour singles title while home favorites Zhang Ze/Gong Maoxin prevailed in doubles in the 2019 Zhuhai Open at the Hengqin International Tennis Center on March 10. 

Pérez, 27, is ranked World 252. He beat 11-seed Blaz Rola of Slovenia and 14-seed Mohamed Safwat of Egypt en route to the title against Evgeny Karlovskiy, winner of the 2018 Nielsen Pro Tennis Championships.

López got into the groove quickly with a 2-0 lead in the first set. Karlovskiy, although finding his feet slowly and pulling the score to 1-2, wasn't able to prevent López from taking the set at a neat 6-1.

In the second set, López continued to apply pressure with 4-love in the opening game. He took advantage of choppy spells by Karlovskiy to break his serve in the nick of the time and close the match at 6-4.

Zhang Ze in action

The doubles' final between 1-seeded Zhang Ze/Gong Maoxin and 2-seeded Max Purcell/Luke Saville from Australia was also a cliffhanger. Both sides secured their serve in the first six games in the opening set. The only service break gave the Chinese players a 6-4 edge.

Zhang and Gong started the second set at a comfortable 2-0 lead and resisted a fierce counteroffensive. Another service break helped them claim the title at 6-4.

Zhang revealed in an interview after the match that the recent goal of the doubles' pair is to earn an entrance ticket to the French Open by winning at least two titles in three consecutive ATP Challenger championships in China. 

Gong Maoxin hits a return [Photos by Zhu Xi / Zhuhai Daily]

The Association of Tennis Professionals announced only last month that Zhuhai would host the ATP World Tour 250 Zhuhai Championships from 2019 onward. The ATP Challenger Tour is the secondary professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2019 calendar has 79 tournaments scheduled through June, with $54,160 to $162,480 in prize money.