TURIN/STARNBERG, May 20, 2023
Dominik Koepfer has captured the title of the inaugural Piemonte Open Intesa San Paolo. The unseeded German defeated Italian qualifier Federico Gaio 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0 in Saturday’s singles final, which took place indoors at the Circolo della Stampa Sporting di Torino due to bad weather.
The organizers’ decision to move from outdoor clay to indoors hard might gave Koepfer a helping hand and the 29-year-old from Furtwangen capitalized on the opportunity in a big way. In the morning, Koepfer defeated second-seeded Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals in just 58 minutes, while in the afternoon he prevailed in three sets to clinch his fourth ATP Challenger Tour career title, his second of the season following his triumph in Mexico City in early April.
The Turin Trophy 🏆#ATPChallenger | @DominikKoepfer pic.twitter.com/RxrsX9aLHc
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 20, 2023
“It was not easy to go from outdoor clay to fast indoor courts in a few hours,” said Koepfer, who pocketed €29,370 in prize money. “But I am proud of how I was able to adapt. It was an incredible week, giving me the most important title of my career. Thanks to the 175 Ranking points earned I should be able to enter the main draw at Wimbledon. That was my goal and I hope to continue on this path. In Turin I found a splendid tournament, with lots of people and a fantastic welcome. Too bad about the rain that complicated things, but the organizers did a great job to finish the tournament on time.”
Before finishing runner-up to Koepfer, Gaio had knocked out World No. 40 and top seed of the €200,000 Challenger tournament Sebastian Baez of Argentina, 7-5, 6-3 in the stage of the final four. The 31-year-old from Faenza earned €17,325 in prize money as well as 100 ATP Ranking points.
“After the first set in the final I started to feel very heavy legs, paying for the fatigues of a very intense season,” said Gaio. “I’m disappointed that I didn’t win, but before the tournament I would have signed for much less than a final.”
