In another all-Australian clash on Pat Rafter Arena, Adam Walton emerged victorious to secure his ninth career title at the Brisbane Challenger tournament.
Earlier in the day, Kimberly Birrell fought past a resilient Maddison Inglis to clinch the ITF W75 title.
Walton, 25, faced off against Australian wildcard Jason Kubler in what was surprisingly their first-ever meeting, with the former escaping in two nail-biting tiebreaks to take it 7-6(6) 7-6(4).
Yet it could've been an entirely different outcome, considering Kubler found himself up a break in both sets.
In the first set breaker, Walton converted his second set point opportunity after trailing by a mini break at 2-4.
Kubler, a former world No.1 junior, will be left to rue missed chances after throwing away a 4-2 advantage as well as a 3-0 double break lead in the second set tiebreak.
It marks his first title since May 2024 after coming out on top in a Taipei Challenger event.
Two places shy of his career-high attained six months ago, Walton is now ranked No.88 ahead of his upcoming tournament at the Delray Beach Open next week, where he will face Learner Tien in the round of 32.
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