Vliegen Hoists Singles Trophy In Belgium F11 Futures Tournament
September 01, 2016 | Men's Tennis
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Former East Carolina men's tennis standout Joran Vliegen won his first Pro Tour singles title of the year with a straight-set victory over No. 508 Romain Barbosa in the final of the $10K Belgium F11 Futures in Huy, Belgium last weekend.Â
In the championship match, Vliegen trailed 1-4 in the opening set before winning five-straight games to take the first set, 6-4. Vliegen broke Barbosa in a three-deuce game to take the second set lead en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win.Â
Entering the tournament, Vliegen was ranked No. 631 in the world, but this victory will likely see him crack into the top 600. This is Vliegen's second singles title of his career, while he currently holds a doubles ranking of No. 167.
"It was a great feeling for me to be able to win a tournament in singles after the great results in doubles," Vliegen said. "You could say it kind of postpones the inevitable decision to solely focus on doubles for now."
In August off 2015, Vliegen cruised through the Belgium F8 Futures singles bracket at the Westend T.C. Lacodam Tennis Club for his first tournament victory on the pro circuit. Vliegen believes he is back on track after a few setbacks earlier in the year.
"My goal in singles has always been to be ranked in the top 500," Vliegen said. "I was close this summer, but I lost some points that I had to defend from last year so I dropped back a little bit."
Illustrated in his ranking, doubles has been Vliegen's strong suit since turning pro, winning more than a handful of tournaments in just two years time. It could be sooner rather than later that his name makes it onto qualifying draw sheets for Grand Slam events.
"Doubles has been phenomenal the past couple weeks, and I'm very excited about that," Vliegen said. "I feel that with the way we have been playing, we could ultimately get to the top 100. We haven't really talked about goals but we just keep playing and we'll see where we end up. The top 100 is definitely a dream and a goal."
Following the victory, Vliegen will decide where his journey takes him in the coming months. During the month of September, he plans to compete again in Belgium, before continuing on to The Netherlands and Morocco.
In the championship match, Vliegen trailed 1-4 in the opening set before winning five-straight games to take the first set, 6-4. Vliegen broke Barbosa in a three-deuce game to take the second set lead en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win.Â
Entering the tournament, Vliegen was ranked No. 631 in the world, but this victory will likely see him crack into the top 600. This is Vliegen's second singles title of his career, while he currently holds a doubles ranking of No. 167.
"It was a great feeling for me to be able to win a tournament in singles after the great results in doubles," Vliegen said. "You could say it kind of postpones the inevitable decision to solely focus on doubles for now."
In August off 2015, Vliegen cruised through the Belgium F8 Futures singles bracket at the Westend T.C. Lacodam Tennis Club for his first tournament victory on the pro circuit. Vliegen believes he is back on track after a few setbacks earlier in the year.
"My goal in singles has always been to be ranked in the top 500," Vliegen said. "I was close this summer, but I lost some points that I had to defend from last year so I dropped back a little bit."
Illustrated in his ranking, doubles has been Vliegen's strong suit since turning pro, winning more than a handful of tournaments in just two years time. It could be sooner rather than later that his name makes it onto qualifying draw sheets for Grand Slam events.
"Doubles has been phenomenal the past couple weeks, and I'm very excited about that," Vliegen said. "I feel that with the way we have been playing, we could ultimately get to the top 100. We haven't really talked about goals but we just keep playing and we'll see where we end up. The top 100 is definitely a dream and a goal."
Following the victory, Vliegen will decide where his journey takes him in the coming months. During the month of September, he plans to compete again in Belgium, before continuing on to The Netherlands and Morocco.
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