Yanaki Milev Secures Qualifying Win at Florence Challenger

Bulgaria Davis Cup player Yanaki Milev has reached the second round of qualifying at the €56,700 clay-court ATP Challenger 50 tournament in Florence, Italy.

The 22-year-old Milev defeated top-seeded qualifier Pavel Lagutin 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted one hour and 28 minutes.

The Bulgarian conceded the first break of the contest to fall 2-3 behind, but responded emphatically by reeling off four consecutive games to take the opening set 6-3. Milev then surged to a 5-2 lead in the second set, and despite dropping the next two games, held his nerve to serve out the match.

The victory earned him one ATP ranking point, currently sitting at world No. 619. For a place in the main draw, the Bulgarian will square off against Thailand's Maximus Jones.

Fellow countryman Adrian Andreev suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the first qualifying round, falling 7-6(5), 2-6, 5-7 to Spain's Izan Almazan Valiente after a grueling three-hour and seven-minute battle.

Another Bulgarian, Ivan Ivanov, has secured direct entry into the main draw and will begin his campaign tomorrow against Italy's Enrico Dalla Valle in the first round.

Milev is also competing in the doubles event alongside compatriot Radoslav Shandarov. The Bulgarian duo will take on Italian home pairing Enrico Dalla Valle and Augusto Virgili in the opening round.