Burke claims U-18 title

Brandon Burke clinched his first Under 18 singles title on Saturday, by winning the Curacao Juniors Open at SOV Asiento.

Seeded at one, Burke had a comfortable first round victory over Justin Lunn of the Bahamas 6-3, 6-3, but had to dig deep to come from behind in three sets against Colombian Sebastian Lopez 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.

In his semi-final match-up against Japanese Kyohhei Kamono, Burke lived up to his number one ranking and disposed of him in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-1.

In the finals, Burke faced another Colombian in Christian Chavez, who had scored an upset victory over the number four seed.

However, a determined Burke was in no mood for an upset and pummeled him 6-1, 6-1.

Since his November 2007 ITF ranking of 1,352, Burke had moved up 980 places to a ranking of 366 prior to this victory.