OPATIJA/STARNBERG, March 28, 2022
Mate Valkusz of Hungary is the champion of the Istarska Rivijera in Opatija, the third and final stop of a three-week clay-court swing in Istria. The No. 7 seed of the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 clay-court event, part of Croatia’s oldest international tennis tournament series which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, rallied from set down to overcome top favourite Riccardo Bonadio of Italy 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in Sunday’s singles final.
Valkusz, who earned his maiden crown on the Pro Circuit at the Istarska Rivijera in Porec four years ago, battled his way through the bottom half of the draw with wins over Serbian wild card entry Matija Zugic, Briton Felix Gill, fourth-seed Spaniard Oriol Roca Batalla and No. 5 seed Michael Vrbensky from the Czech Republic.
In his first meeting with Bonadio, the 23-year-old Budapest native converted seven of his 11 break-point chances and won nine points more than his opponent to secure victory in two hours and 16 minutes.
By lifting his 13th singles trophy on the ITF Pro Circuit, his first of the season, Valkusz earned $3,600 in prize money as well as 25 ATP Ranking points.
Babic/Tsitsipas earn doubles title
On Saturday, Zvonimir Babic of Croatia and Petros Tsitsipas from Greece took the doubles title. The No. 2 seeds fought past top seeds Ricardo Bonadio and Michael Vrbensky 6-3, 4-6, 10-8. The encounter lasted one hour and 27 minutes.
By winning their first team title, Babic and Tsitsipas split $1,550 in prize money and pocketed 25 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
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