Italian tennis player Flavio Cobolli surged to victory over a spirited Frances Tiafoe to capture his third ATP Tour title, a first at the Mexican Open on Saturday. Duo Zverev/Melo lifted the double title in Acapulco.
World No. 20 Flavio Cobolli became the first Italian man to win the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC title by powering past American Frances Tiafoe 7-6, 6-4 in two hours and 9 minutes.
As a result, the 23-year-old is set to crack into the Top 15 in the ATP Rankings on Monday.
After a high-level contest, he outlined: “When I was a kid, I was dreaming of this moment.
" For this kind of tournament, playing on the center court with people cheering for me. I’m very proud, not only for me, but also for the people that work for me — my dad, my family, the rest of my team. They will help me a lot.”
The fifth seed came through a stern test posed by Tiafoe in a first-set tiebreak that the young Italian controlled on the Arena GNP Seguros to take the lead in the championship match.
As the second set wore on, Cobolli added pressure over his opponent, courtesy of a high-level performance on the forehand, easily generating power.
Sharp behind his serve, he won 77 percent of the points on his first serve on his way to earning a 4-2 advantage.
On the other side of the net, the eighth seed reacted quickly to set the score level at 4-4; his comeback attempt was cut short by the relentless Italian, who broke straight back in the ninth game to go up 5-4.
From there, the Florence native held his ground to pocket the set 6-4, claiming victory in the process.
All in all, he hit 33 winners (10 aces) against 28 unforced errors, compared to the American player, who had fired 20 winners and committed 28 unforced errors, respectively.
In his post-match press conference, he outlined: “I played a perfect match. I knew when I was hitting the ball differently. I couldn’t lose three times to a player (Frances Tiafoe)."
Adding: “I think I deserve it for how I work outside the court. I just want to say that I’m very proud of myself. It was a great match today, I think it was the best of the tournament for me. I never won against [Frances] before today, so I’m very happy.”
Throughout a nearly flawless campaign on Mexican soil, he dropped just one set in the semifinals, prevailing over in-form Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic to advance to the title match.
On Wednesday, Kecmanovic took down top seed Alexander Zverev in a gruelling three-set round of 18 matchup, ending the German's singles journey at the event.
The world No. 4 would return to action playing doubles alongside long-time friend Marcelo Melo on Saturday.
The pair triumped over Alexander Erler and Robert Galloway 6-3, 6-4 in 69 minutes to clinch their first doubles title together, the No. 42nd for the experienced Brazilian player.
"Marcelo has been my best friend for over 10 years now, and we finally won a tournament," remarked Zverev. " We have been in a couple of finals, and we finally did it. So it's special."
The previous week, Melo joined forces with countryman Joao Fonseca, completing a dream week at the Rio Open presented by Claro to win back-to-back doubles titles at the ATP 500 venue.
"Thanks to Sascha's family, it's amazing," asserted the 42-year-old during the trophy ceremony.
"We have known each other for almost 10 years now, they're always together, supporting. Sascha, thank you to you as well."