National tennis star Blaise Bicknell has described last weekend’s second-place performance at the ATP Challenger Trophy in Lima, Peru, as the best of his young professional career.

Bicknell, who has never won a match in an ATP Challenger tournament before, recorded four victories on his way to the final of the championships. However, he lost 7-6,6-1 to Alvara Meza of Ecuador.

On his way to the final, the 21-year-old Bicknell recorded victories over Juan Pablo Ficovich from Argentina who is ranked 271 in the world and Bolivia’s Murkel Velasco who is rated 290. “It was one of the best in my life because I got arguably the best results that I have ever gotten in my career down there in Peru because every match was tough,” Bicknell told the Jamaica Observer.

“I won my first professional tournament a few weeks ago, but this is the next level up, and so before last week I have never won a major match in an ATP Challenger event, but in Peru I won four matches and made it all the way to the final, and my world rankings went up from 560 to 466,” he said.

The soft-spoken Bicknell entered the professional ranks earlier this summer after graduating from the University of Tennessee in the United States with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in tourism.

He shared that his ambition is to represent Jamaica in an ITF international Grand Slam tournament, and based on the path that he is on now, he is quietly confident that he will get there in the near future.

“This year has been incredible because I started the summer ranked 830 in the world, and within two months I have gotten to 466 in the world, and so if I continue on this track then I am confident that I will be in the top in the world very soon,” Bicknell said.

“I have to be in the top 240 to qualify for the Grand Slam, and so I am almost there, and so I have to keep pushing until I get it done,” he said. “The focus is getting better every day physically and mentally and just continue to keep working hard and staying focused on the task ahead,” Bicknell added.

The lanky player, who is the country’s top tennis player, is scheduled to lead the country’s charge against host Lebanon in their Davis Cup Group tie next month. Bicknell pointed out that he is looking forward to the championship because he is fit and he is also confident that he will do well in it.

“I am in top form going into the Davis Cup against Lebanon and I am looking forward to competing for Jamaica,” he said. “It is going to be very tough, but at the ATP tournament last week I beat guys who are ranked 270 and 275 in the world, so I am very well prepared for it and so I am just hoping that Jamaica can get the job done,” Bicknell said.