CAGLIARI/STARNBERG, April 11, 2021
Lorenzo Sonego lifted the singles trophy of the Sardegna Open, held at the Tennis Club Cagliari, to become the first Italian in 15 years to capture an ATP Tour title on home soil on Sunday. The No. 3 seed fought past Laslo Djere of Serbia 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
After a first-round bye, the 25-year-old from Turin beat French veteran Gilles Simon, Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann and second seed Taylor Fritz of the United States on his way to the championship match.
Sonego won seven points less than Djere on Campo Centrale but secured victory in three hours and one minute.
✅ First ATP Tour doubles title
✅ Second ATP Tour singles title
✅ First double winner in 2021
✅ First 🇮🇹 champion on home soil in 15 yearsWhat a week for Lorenzo 👏pic.twitter.com/NhKpqQ4ytA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 11, 2021
“The match was long and I remained calm in the second-set tie-break,” Sonego told ATPTour.com. “I knew the match wasn’t finished because I had always kept fighting. It’s wonderful to win the title with all my team here. Now, I am really tired, but I am very happy.”
Following his maiden triumph at the Antalya Open in Turkey 2019, Sonego earned his second ATP Tour title and pocketed €40,100 in prize money as well as 250 ATP Ranking points.
Sonego/Vavassori win doubles title
Sonego is also the first player to capture singles and doubles titles in the same week since Feliciano Lopez at London’s Queens Club in 2019. The World No. 34 partnered Andrea Vavassori to the doubles title on Saturday. The pair edged No. 2 seeds Simone Bolelli of Italy and Andres Molteni from Argentina 6-3, 6-4 after one hour and 15 minutes.
Former World No. 25 Filippo Volandri was the last Italian to hoist a tour-level trophy on home soil at Palermo in October 2006. The last Italian to complete a title ‘double’ was Matteo Berrettini at the 2018 Swiss Open Gstaad.
