2010 CHAMPIONS

One year ago, Tobias Kamke of Germany had to go through qualifying to earn a spot in the main draw at the $50,000 Granby National Bank Challenger and this year, he is the champion as the tournament’s top seed.

Kamke, ranked no. 102 on the ATP World Tour, captured his first title of the season on Sunday thanks to a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over Canadian Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) in a spirited final in front of yet another sold out crowd in Granby. Kamke had played two Challenger finals in 2010 before his triumph this week. The 24-year-old also reached the third round at Wimbledon and the second round at Roland-Garros earlier this year.

For his part, Raonic was playing in the first Challenger final of on Sunday after enjoying the best week of his young career. The 19-year-old knocked out the third, seventh and second seeds of the tournament en route to the championship match. In his semifinal match on Saturday, he erased a 1-4 deficit in the third set tiebreak to eliminate Go Soeda of Japan, ranked no.116 in the world. Raonic was the first Canadian to contest a final in Granby since Frank Dancevic in 2006.