Flavio Cobolli turned his season around by winning the title in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Saturday evening. Cobolli defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes for his third ATP winners’ trophy.
Entering Delray Beach last week, the 23-year-old was on a four-match losing streak with three straight losses in a row against opponents outside the top 100. However, he set the stage for success in Acapulco by gaining momentum with a Delray Beach semifinal appearance.
Now Cobolli is a two-time champion at the ATP 500 level.
“When I was a child,” the Italian reflected, “I dreamed of this moment, of this kind of tournament, playing on center court and people cheering me on. I am very proud, not only for me, but also for the people who work for me: my father, my family and the rest of my team.”
At the Chile Open, Luciano Darderi continued his dominant clay-court form with a 7-6(6), 7-5 victory over Yannick Hanfmann on Sunday night. Darderi withstood 10 Hanfmann aces, broke serve three times and triumphed after one hour and 47 minutes.
“[I’m] I feel really great,” assured the Italian. “I didn’t expect to win this week, because I never played beyond the quarter-finals here. So I’m very happy. It’s my second final of the year, so winning a title early is very impressive and I’m very confident for the rest of the year.”
Darderi is 21-2 in his last 23 clay court matches, a hot streak that now includes four titles (three ATP and one challenger).
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