Poonacha-Escobar win Lexington Open doubles title after comeback
Synopsis
Down a set and staring at two match points at 7-9 in the super tie-break, Niki Poonacha and Gonzalo Escobar reeled off four straight points to snatch the Lexington Open doubles title — Poonacha's fifth Challenger crown of 2026 and arguably his most dramatic.
Key Takeaways
Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Gonzalo Escobar won the Lexington Open ATP Challenger 75 doubles title on 9 August 2026 .
They defeated Andre Ilagan and Karl Poling 6-7 (1), 6-3, 11-9 , saving two match points in the super tie-break.
It is Poonacha's 11th ATP Challenger doubles title overall and his fifth of the 2026 season .
The pair beat top seeds Ray Ho and Ivan Liutarevich on their way to the final.
Poonacha's other 2026 titles came with Saketh Myneni and Pruchya Isaro as partners.
India's Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Ecuador's Gonzalo Escobar claimed the men's doubles title at the Lexington Open, an ATP Challenger 75 tournament in Lexington, Kentucky, on 9 August, battling back from a set down and saving two match points to seal a dramatic victory.
How the final unfolded
The third-seeded pair defeated American duo Andre Ilagan and Karl Poling 6-7 (1), 6-3, 11-9 in a final that lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes. Poonacha and Escobar secured an early break in the fourth game of the first set but were pegged back when they dropped serve in the seventh. They then collapsed in the tie-break, going down 7-1.
The second set told a different story. The Indo-Ecuadorian pair broke in the third game, held firm, and then produced a decisive break in the ninth game to force a super tie-break. In that decider, neither team could pull more than two points clear, and Poonacha and Escobar found themselves on the brink at 7-9 — facing two match points.
The comeback that sealed it
With the title slipping away, the pair reeled off four consecutive points to overturn the deficit and complete one of the more dramatic finishes of the Challenger season. The win was their first title together on the ATP Challenger circuit.
Poonacha's remarkable 2026 season
The victory is Poonacha's 11th ATP Challenger doubles crown overall and his fifth of the 2026 season — a remarkable run of consistency at the Challenger level. The 31-year-old from India had earlier this year won the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger 50 with Saketh Myneni, the Menorca ATP Challenger 100 and Chennai ATP Challenger 50 with Thailand's Pruchya Isaro, and the Open Sopra Steria de Lyon with Isaro in June.
Road to the title
En route to the final, Poonacha and Escobar defeated the tournament's top seeds — Ray Ho of Chinese Taipei and Ivan Liutarevich of Belarus — underlining the quality of their run through the draw. The Lexington triumph adds another chapter to Poonacha's standing as one of the most productive doubles specialists on the Challenger tour in 2026.
Point of View
Yet Poonacha's consistency barely registers in mainstream Indian sports coverage still fixated on singles rankings. His ability to rotate partners — Myneni, Isaro, now Escobar — and deliver titles each time suggests a tactical adaptability that is genuinely rare at this level. The deeper question is whether this Challenger-level dominance can translate into ATP Tour doubles points that lift his ranking into Grand Slam main-draw territory. At 31, the window is narrowing, but the 2026 season has been his most productive yet.
NationPress
9 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the Lexington Open men's doubles title in 2026?
India's Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Ecuador's Gonzalo Escobar won the Lexington Open men's doubles title on 9 August 2026, defeating Andre Ilagan and Karl Poling 6-7 (1), 6-3, 11-9 in the final.
How many ATP Challenger doubles titles does Poonacha have in 2026?
The Lexington Open win is Poonacha's fifth ATP Challenger doubles title of the 2026 season and his 11th overall on the Challenger circuit.
How did Poonacha and Escobar win the final?
The pair came back from a set down and saved two match points at 7-9 in the super tie-break before winning four consecutive points to seal the title 6-7 (1), 6-3, 11-9.
Who did Poonacha and Escobar beat on their way to the Lexington final?
They defeated the tournament's top seeds, Ray Ho of Chinese Taipei and Ivan Liutarevich of Belarus, en route to the final.
What other doubles titles has Poonacha won in 2026?
Earlier in 2026, Poonacha won the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger 50 with Saketh Myneni, the Menorca ATP Challenger 100 and Chennai ATP Challenger 50 with Pruchya Isaro, and the Open Sopra Steria de Lyon with Isaro in June.
