“Not long ago, I just imagined playing in these tournaments, so winning is a dream”, said the 24-year-old, who entered the top 300 of the world rankings for the first time this year and is currently ranked in 253th place.

Borges, who was runner-up at the Oeiras Open 2, a tournament also on the ATP Challenger Tour, started his journey with a semi-final victory against Spaniard Eduard Esteve Lobato, ensuring his qualification for the final.

“I felt it was a complicated final emotionally, especially at the beginning of the match. As soon as I managed to apply my game, I felt the game move in my favour. I am very happy to reach the end of the year with this title. I think it demonstrates the work I've been doing and it just makes me want to keep looking for more," he told Lusa, adding that he's tried to stay "focused from start to finish and be aggressive at the right times."

Thanks to the title in Antalya, Nuno Borges became the tenth Portuguese tennis player to win on the ATP Challenger Tour, after Rui Machado, Pedro Sousa and Gastão Elias, all with eight titles, Frederico Silva (6), João Sousa and Nuno Marques (5), João Cunha e Silva (3), João Domingues (2) and Emanuel Couto (1).