TRIESTE/STARNBERG, July 24, 2022
Francesco Passaro claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour crown, becoming the sixth Italian #NextGenATP champion of 2022. The 21-year-old captured the title of the €90,280 Città di Trieste Challenger hosted by the Tennis Events FVG by Tennis Club Triestino. Passaro rallied past Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang of China 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s singles final.
The World No. 187 battled his way to the title match through the top half of the draw with wins over No. 6 seed Nikola Milojevic of Serbia, local wild card entry Mattia Bellucci, top seed Norbert Gombos of Slovakia and his compatriot Francesco Maestrelli, winner of last week Verona Challenger.
Passaro sent down seven aces in the final and broke Zhang’s serve six times to secure victory in one hour and 53 minutes.
By lifting his maiden Challenger trophy, the Perugia native earned €12,250 in prize money as well as 100 ATP Ranking points.
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Francesco Passaro becomes the 6️⃣th #NextGenATP Italian champion of 2022, besting Zhizhen Zhang4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Trieste!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/o8xdt1KYX7
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) July 24, 2022
Hidalgo/Rodriguez triumph in doubles
On Saturday, Diego Hidalgo of Ecuador and Cristian Rodriguez from Venezuela captured the doubles title. The top seeds defeated Italian Marco Bortolotti and Sergio Martos Gornes of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 in one hour and 40 minutes.
By winning their sixth Challenger team title, their fifth of the season, Hidalgo and Rodriguez split €5,250 in prize money and collected 100 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
