FARO/STARNBERG, March 3, 2024
Jaime Faria arrived at the Faro Tennis and Padel Center with a trophy in his luggage and added another one on Sunday by becoming the champion of the Faro Open, the longest-running international tournament in Portugal.
Champion in Vila Real de Santo Antonio last Sunday, the 20-year-old Portuguese World No. 391 did not give any chances to Lithuanian Vilius Gaubas to celebrate a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory in this week’s final of the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event.
With more weapons and solutions than Gaubas, who lived in Portugal for several years and was coached by Pedro Pereira, Faria opened the championship match with a break of serve and set the tone for what would follow.
Always very solid in his serve, the Lisbon native won 81 per cent of his first-service points and never allowed the Lithuanian to mount a comeback, prevailing after 77 minutes.
Two weeks, two #ITFWorldTennisTour M25 titles for @JaimeFaria10!
The 20-year-old Portuguese sails past Vilius Gaubas (who used to live in the Algarve) to win 6-1, 6-3 and claim the 4th title of his career.
Top 300 getting more and more likely in the next couple weeks. pic.twitter.com/MslJDhP7sz
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) March 3, 2024
“I’m a bit speechless because these were two special weeks,” Faria revealed afterward winning his fourth career title on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
“This was the match where I managed to be superior from start to finish. Vilius came from a week where he played a final on a different surface in Turkey, so he was already tired and until the semi-final he spent nine hours on court, three for each match. That helped me to make the difference.”
On Monday, Faria will rise 44 places in the ATP Rankings to World No. 347.
