Maks Kaśnikowski, a Polish tennis player ranked 352 in the ATP, has moved to Kursumlijska Banja in Serbia for two to three weeks. He won the ITF M15 tournament on clay courts, which offers a prize pool of $15,000.
Kaśnikowski is seeded number one in the tournament and has already defeated five opponents. In the final, he beat Duje Ajdukovicia, a Croatian ranked 454 ATP, 6-4, 7-6(3), avenging his loss to Ajdukovicia in the semi-finals in Split. Earlier in the tournament, Kaśnikowski won against Matvei Minin from Russia (ranked 1188 ATP) 6-3, 6-2, Dalim Blanc from the USA (ranked 839 ATP) 6-1, 6-3, Gorazd Srbljak from Macedonia (ranked 1218 ATP) 6-3, 7-5, and Mili Poljicak from Croatia (ranked 467 ATP) 7-5, 6-2.
This is Kaśnikowski’s third triumph in the ITF M15 tournament. He won in Wrocław in 2022 and in Monastyrze in 2023. In the qualifying rounds, Karol Filar was also in the running but lost to Dmitriy Vasilev from Russia 6-1, 4-6, 12-10 and then to his compatriot, Sergiej Pogosian, 5-7, 3-6.
Kaśnikowski also competed in the doubles category, partnering with Bulgarian player Petr Nesterov, who is ranked number one. They defeated Bor Artnak from Slovenia and Poljicak from Croatia 2-6, 6-4, 10-5, and Aljaz Jeran from Slovenia and Vladimir Kravec from Slovakia 6-2, 6-2. However, they lost in the semi-finals to Alessandro Bellifemine and Gabriele Maria Noce from Italy 3-6, 4-6. Kaśnikowski is registered to participate in two more tournaments in Serbia – M15 and M25.