Ex-Cal star wins 1st ATP doubles title, will crack top 100

Andre Goransson, right, of Sweden and Florian Lakat of France pose after
winning the doubles title in the 2017 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger. Goransson
and Lakat played together at the University of California, Berkeley. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Andre Goransson achieved one milestone today and will reach another on Monday.
   The 26-year-old former University of California, Berkeley star from Sweden won his maiden ATP doubles title as the unseeded pair of Goransson and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia edged third-seeded Jonathan Erlich, 42, of Israel and Andrei Vasilevski of Belarus 6-2, 3-6 [10-8] in Pune, India.
   Goransson will crack the top 100 in the world doubles rankings for the first time on Monday, jumping 27 places to No. 81.
   Goransson and Rungkat split $30,900, and Erlich and Vasilevski shared $15,840.
   Rungkat, who also earned his first ATP doubles crown, reached the doubles final in the 2018 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger with Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand.
   Erlich won the doubles title in the Aptos (Calif.) Challenger with countryman Andy Ram in 2013 and with Neal Skupski of Great Britain in 2017.
   In the Pune singles final, unseeded Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic held off eighth-seeded Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-3. Gerasimov advanced to the Aptos semifinals last August.
   ATP Challenger Tour – Dennis Novikov, a 26-year-old San Jose product, won the Dallas Challenger doubles title for the second consecutive year.
   Unseeded Novikov and Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal beat third-seeded Luis David Martinez of Venezuela and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela of Mexico 6-3, 6-4 in the $108,320 RBC Tennis Championships.
   Novikov and Oliveira each collected $3,100, while Martinez and Reyes-Varela received $1,800 apiece.
   Novikov, who took last year's crown with former UCLA teammate Marcos Giron, will drop one spot to No. 168 in Monday's doubles rankings. He earned his sixth Challenger doubles title.
   Reyes-Varela won the doubles title in the $81,240 Aptos Challenger last August with Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador. In the first round, they nipped Novikov and compatriot Donald Young 6-2, 3-6 [14-12].
   An unseeded player also won the Dallas singles title as 20-year-old Jurij Rodionov of Austria topped fifth-seeded Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., 7-5, 7-6 (10).
   Kudla reached the final of the 2015 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger, losing a heartbreaker to friend and countryman Tim Smyczek. Kudla held four championship points in a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) loss.