QUITO, February 12, 2018
Roberto Carballés Baena was made to work to claim his maiden crown, upsetting a trio of seeded players at the Ecuador Open in Quito, while rallying from a set down in both the quarterfinals and semis.
In Sunday’s title match, Carballés Baena upset fellow Spaniard and No. 2 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The 24-year-old from Tenerife converted three of his 11 break point chances to prevail after two hours and 27 minutes.
The Spanish qualifier won six matches in seven days to become the third first-time winner of 2018, joining Daniil Medvedev (Sydney) and Mirza Basic (Sofia).
¡Es tiempo de jugadas, puntos y festejos! Revive la coronación de @Robertocarba93 en el #TenisLatitudCero. Su primer título en el circuito @ATPWorldTour. 🎾🏆🇪🇸🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/WjDOPIpriD
— #TenisLatitudCero (@EcuadorOpen250) 12. Februar 2018
“I did not expect this when I came to Quito, but every day I have improved and now I have the title with me. I entered the Top 100 for the first time two years ago, but I needed to have a good ATP World Tour tournament. I did very well during the matches this week and they have been very hard matches, decided by small margins. I hope to enter more ATP tournaments to continue raising my level and win more matches,” said Carballés Baena, who rises more than 30 spots to a projected career-high No. 76 in the ATP Rankings.
Runner-up Albert Ramos-Vinolas, meanwhile, was appearing in his sixth ATP World Tour final and seeking his second title.
“Nobody likes to lose finals, but someone has to. I would have loved to win this tournament, but it could not be. Yes, I was mentally strong this week, but I also struggled a lot. Maybe the day I felt more comfortable was the one I played at night because it was slower. It happened to me in previous years, where the day I lost the first set the conditions were very fast and today something similar happened. I tried to keep fighting and I almost managed to turn the match around, but it could not be,” Ramos-Vinolas said.
Chilean Team Triumph
Nicolas Jarry and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo became first-time winners on the ATP World Tour, taking the doubles title with a 7-6, 6-3 win over US-Americans Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow on Saturday. The encounter lasted 68 minutes.
Individually, Jarry was competing in his first doubles final, while Podlipnik-Castillo was contesting his second after 2017 Kitzbühel.
“The truth is that I’m very happy and it’s great to win with a good friend like Nico. I’ve been wanting to win an ATP title for a long time and it’s finally here,” Podlipnik-Castillo said.
