Two ATP Challenger Tour titles in as many weeks lifts Team Bath Tennis ace Toby Samuel to new career-high world ranking
Team Bath Tennis ace Toby Samuel backed up his first ATP Challenger Tour title in fine style by winning a second just a week later.
Samuel’s breakthrough success came at the Soma Bay Challenger in Egypt, where he beat second seed Ilia Simakin 6-4 6-4 in his opening match before defeating Peter Fajta 6-3 7-6(4) and Alexandr Binda 6-2 6-3.
An emphatic 6-1 6-1 victory over compatriot Charlie Robertson set up an all-British final against Jay Clarke, where Samuel rallied from losing his first set of the week to lift the trophy with a 4-6 7-6(4) 6-0 success.
Samuel, coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, carried that form into the Manama Challenger in Bahrain, conceding just 17 games to his four opponents on the way to a second successive final.
He then brushed aside the seeded Simakin in just 48 minutes, racing to a 6-0 6-2 victory which moved him up to a career-high singles ranking of 267 in the world.
It was Samuel’s third title during November following his M15 Sharm El Sheikh success on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour at the start of the month.
The titles continue an excellent year for Samuel, who was a silver-medallist for Great Britain at the 2025 World University Games. He is part of the Pro Team based at Team Bath:
Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about the tennis programme at the University of Bath.
