POREC, March 18, 2019

Andrea Pellegrino of Italy is the champion of the Istarska Rivijera Porec, the first stop of a three-week clay-court swing in Croatia. The top seed of the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event fought past unseeded Frenchman Maxime Chazal, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final at the Tenis Centar Pical.

Pellegrino advanced to the title match with wins over Pascal Meis of Germany, Christian Lindell from Sweden, Nik Razborsek of Slovenia and Turkish No. 8 seed Ergi Kirkin without dropping a set. In the title match, the World No. 345 capitalized on seven of his 15 break point chances to secure victory in two hours and 55 minutes.

By lifting his fifth ITF singles trophy, his first since 2017, Pellegrino collects $2,160 in prize money as well as 100 ITF Ranking points.

“I am very satisfied with the week here in Poreč. The weather, the organization and the atmosphere were great. The final was a really good match,” said Pellegrino, who has finished his performance in Istria. Chazal will stay in Croatia expecting to collect more points in Rovinj.