FRANCAVILLA, April 30, 2018
Gianluigi Quinzi captured his maiden crown on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning the second edition €43,000 Internazionali D’Abruzzo held on the clay courts of the Circolo Tennis Francavilla Al Mare Sporting Club. The 22-year-old wild card entry defeated #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud in Sunday’s singles final 6-4, 6-1.
Quinzi, who only dropped one set en route to the youngest ATP Challenger title match of 2018, won 80 per cent of his first service points and broke his opponent five times to secure victory in one hour and 10 minutes.
La gioia, l’emozione e i prossimi obiettivi di Gianluigi Quinzi, vincitore a Francavilla del suo primo titolo #ATP Challenger. #tennis pic.twitter.com/afnPqImbbs
— SuperTennis TV (@SuperTennisTv) 29. April 2018
“To stay focused and mentally strong was the key to success. You have to stay calm when you compete with these kind of players, especially in complicated moments like the seventh game of the first set,” Quinzi explained.
The 22-year-old Italian is a former World No. 1 in the ITF Juniors ranking and clinched the Wimbledon boys title in 2013. Quinzi earns €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP ranking points. He is now ranked World No. 265.
“I do not know if it’s the turning point in my career, but I enjoy the victory, I’m very happy,” Quinzi stated.
On Saturday, Julian Ocleppo and Andrea Vavassori clinched the doubles crown. The Italian wild card entries upset the tournament’s No. 2 duo Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Maximo Gonzalez from Argentina 7-6, 7-6. The final lasted one hour and 52 minutes.
