ATP Challenger: Dennis Novak is defeated in Ortisei Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Dennis Novak missed the final of the ATP Challenger tournament in Ortisei. The Austrian Davis Cup player lost to tournament favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

A strong performance by Dennis Novak, who unfortunately remained unrewarded in the end: The 25-year-old, who had fought his way into the main peloton at three Grand Slam tournaments this year, lost in the preliminary round of the ATP Challenger Tournament in Ortisei to Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who was seeded first, 6-7 (5) and 4-6.

On the way to the semi-finals, Novak had first beaten Matthias Bachinger, who was seeded eighth, then his German compatriot Dustin Brown (who had eliminated Novak in the doubles in the quarter-finals) and Simone Bolelli in the round of the last eight. Novak will take 29 points for the ATP World Ranking for the entry into the preliminary round.

The next challenge is the appearance at the ATP Challenger Tournament in Ismaning. There Dennis Novak is set in fifth position and will meet a qualifier at the start.