MUNICH, February 12, 2020 (by Dietmar Kaspar)
M25 Palm Coast USA – Alexander Ritschard prevails in Florida
The Palm Coast Tennis Open, hosted at Palm Coast Tennis Center in Florida, concluded with the victory of Alexander Ritschard.
The 25-year-old US-American stopped the run of Brazilian qualifier Daniel Dutra da Silva in the semi-finals in three sets.
Martin Podzus from Latvia advanced to the final with a straight-sets win against US-American wildcard entry Alex Rybakov.
No. 6 seeded Ritschard fired 10 aces in the title match and won 85 per cent of his first-service points to prevail 7-6, 6-4 in one hour and 43 minutes. The Zurich-born celebrated his fifth career title on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
M25 Lima PER – Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera dominates in Peru
Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera captured the title of the Copa Federacion, held at Club Lawn Tennis in Lima, without losing a set the entire week.
The No. 5 seed from Chile, who reached position five as a career high in the ITF Juniors Ranking, eased past Brazilian No. 2 seed Pedro Sakamoto in two sets.
Spaniard Carlos Gomez-Herrera ended the run of Serbian qualifier Miljan Zekic in the stage of the last four in straight sets.
Twenty-two-year-old Barrios Vera capitalized on four of his 10 break-point opportunities in the championship match without facing a break point to secure a 6-2, 6-2 win after one hour and 24 minutes. The Santiago resident lifted his seventh singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
M25 Nonthaburi THA – Benjamin Bonzi clinches first title of the season
Benjamin Bonzi prevailed at the M25 Nonthaburi tournament, hosted at Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand.
The 23-year-old Frenchman rallied down Matija Pecotic, who clinched the trophy in Nonthaburi last week, in the semi-finals in straight sets.
Sebastian Fanselow from Germany, who played college tennis for Pepperdine University, made the last step to the final by defeating the tournament’s top seed Tsung-Hua Yang from Chinese Taipei in two sets. Twenty-eight year-old Yang was ranked World No. 1 as a junior in 2008.
No. 8 seeded Bonzi dropped one service game in the title match and converted all of his four break-point chances to get the final win by the score of 6-4, 6-1 after 74 minutes. The Nimes-born celebrated his 10th career trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
M15 Antalya TUR – Giovanni Fonio earns his maiden title
Giovanni Fonio triumphed at the Sahinler Cup Series 2, held at Club Megasaray in Belek, to lift his first singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
The 21-year-old from Novara emerged victorious from the all-Italian semi-final clash against Davide Galoppini in straight sets.
No. 5 seeded Michael Vrbensky from the Czech Republic cruised past Bulgarian No. 8 seed Alexander Lazarov in the semi-finals in two clear sets.
Winning one point more in the championship match than his 20-year-old rival, unseeded Fonio sealed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory after two hours and 16 minutes.
M15 Cancun MEX – Geoffrey Blancaneaux secures win
The M15 Cancun tournament, hosted at Cancun Tennis Academy, concluded with the championship of Geoffrey Blancaneaux.
The French top seed, who was ranked ITF No. 5 as a junior, benefited in the semi-finals from the retirement of Michel Vernier from Chile after winning the first set by the score of 6-0.
The tournament’s No. 5 Maximiliano Estevez from Argentina advanced from the semi-final battle of the lefties versus Brazilian wildcard entry Igor Marcondes in three sets.
Paris native Blancaneaux capitalized on eight of his 14 break-point opportunities and lost four service games in the title match to prevail 6-7, 6-3 6-1 in about three hours. The 21-year-old celebrated his 12th trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
M15 Monastir TUN – Lucas Catarina lifts his second trophy in Monastir this season
Lucas Catarina from Monaco is the champion of the Magic Tours tournament, held at Magic Hotel Skanes Family in Monastir.
The No. 5 seed, who entered the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters 2019 with a wild card, battled through the top half of the draw, defeating Tunisian No. 4 seed Aziz Dougaz in two sets.
No. 8 seeded Portuguese Tiago Cacao took the last step to the final by beating Nicolas Moreno de Alboran from the United States in straight sets.
Twenty-three year-old Catarina outpointed his opponent in the championship match 100-82 to secure a 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 23 minutes. He lifted his sixth singles trophy on the ITF World Tennis Tour. all of them won on hard courts.
M15 Sharm El Sheikh EGY – Alessandro Bega captures his second title of the season
Alessandro Bega clinched the trophy of the M15 Sharm El Sheikh tournament, held at Soho Square.
The 29-year-old Italian battled past Ergi Kirkin from Turkey in the stage of the final four in three sets.
Czech No. 6 seed Marek Gengel knocked off the tournament’s top favourite Pablo Vivero Gonzalez from Spain in the semi-finals in straight sets.
No. 2 seeded Bega converted three of his five break-point chances in the title match without dropping a service game, to claim a 6-4, 6-2 win after 78 minutes. The Cernusco Sul Naviglio-born, who has won at least one trophy per season since 2012, celebrated his 15th career title on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
