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The 25-year-old, currently number 181 in the world rankings, won a final that was unsurpassable in terms of suspense and in which he even had to fend off two match points against Poland's Maks Kasnikowski (ATP number 310). After 2:38 hours Klein had won the third Challenger title of his career with a 6:7 (4), 7:6 (4), 7:6 (6). He won the seventh match in Gardena-Gröden and collects a prize money of 4910 Euros and 50 world ranking points. Kasnikowski gets 2950 Euros and 30 points, which will help him to climb back into the top 300. 

The Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol has a surprising final on Sunday at 11 a.m.: Maks Kasnikowski from Poland defeated Italian No. 3 seed Federico Gaio 6:3, 5:7, 6:2 after 2:07 hours in the tennis hall of Ortisei this afternoon and is in his first Challenger final. The 20-year-old from Warsaw, ranked only No. 310 in the world, will challenge qualifier Lukas Klein, ranked No. 181 in the world. Klein defeated Britain's Billy Harris 6-3, 7-6 (5) to become the first player since Andreas Seppi to reach the final in Gardena-Gröden for the second year in a row. Seppi had actually reached the final three times in a row between 2012 and 2014, winning twice. 

Federico Gaio has lived up to his role as favorite at the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol in the quarterfinals. The number 3 of the tournament won the Italian duel against sensation Luca Giacomini with 7:6 (3), 7:6 (2) and reached the semi-finals as the only seed at South Tyrol's most important tennis tournament. On Saturday, Gaio will play Poland's Maks Kasnikowski for a place in Sunday's final. The second semi-final is Lukas Klein (Slovakia) against Billy Harris (Great Britain). Saturday's tournament day begins at 11 a.m. with the doubles final. As always, admission to the tennis hall in Ortisei is free.

Thursday at the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol was all about the tennis pros from Italy. After sensation Luca Giacomini, Federico Gaio and Enrico Dalla Valle also advanced to the quarter-finals on Friday. Gaio decided the derby against Francesco Forti 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Dalla Valle knocked out Jordan's Abdullah Selbayh, the No. 1 seed, in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Luca Giacomini remains the great protagonist of the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol. From the qualifiers he reached the quarters of a challenger for the first time in his career, beating the Ukrainian Illya Marchenko in a comeback 4:6, 6:2, 7:6 (5) in the longest and most intense match of the tournament so far. Two hours and 38 minutes of great fight.