India’s Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Ecuador's Gonzalo Escobar battled back from a set down to win the men's doubles title at the Lexington Open, an ATP Challenger 75 tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The third-seeded pair defeated American duo Andre Ilagan and Karl Poling 6-7 (1), 6-3, 11-9 in the final that lasted an hour and 42 minutes in Lexington, Kentucky.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
This was Poonacha’s 11th ATP Challenger doubles crown and fifth of the 2026 season. It was Poonacha's and Escobar’s first title together on the ATP Challenger circuit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 31-year-old Indian won the Open Sopra Steria de Lyon with Thailand’s Pruchya Isaro in June. He had also won the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger 50 with Saketh Myneni and the Menorca ATP Challenger 100 and Chennai ATP Challenger 50 with Isaro earlier this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the first set, the Indian-Ecuadorian pair secured an early break in the fourth game, but were pegged back when they lost serve in the seventh. In a tie-break, Poonacha and Escobar were unable to find a response and went down 7-1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The duo mounted a comeback in the second set, securing a break in the third game. They held their advantage through the set before producing another decisive break in the ninth game to take the final into a super tie-breaker, Olympics.com reports.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the super tie-break, neither team was able to establish a lead of more than two points as the contest remained finely poised. Poonacha and Escobar, however, found themselves staring at defeat at 7-9.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The duo mounted a comeback in the second set, securing a break in the third game. They held their advantage through the set before producing another decisive break in the ninth game to take the final into a super tie-breaker, Olympics.com reports.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Poonacha and Escobar had to overcome the tournament’s top seeds Chinese Taipei’s Ray Ho and Ivan Liutarevich of Belarus on their way to the title.<\/p>\r\n\r\n