GENOVA, September 9, 2019
Lorenzo Sonego successfully defended his AON Open Challenger Genova title. The top seed from Italy fought past 20-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Sunday’s singles final.
Sonego capitalized on six of his 12 break point chances to secure a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5) victory. After a five-hour rain delay and two hours and 46 minutes on the court the match ended at 1:30 am.
Scenes at 1:30am 😱
After a five-hour 🌧️ delay and nearly three hours on court, Lorenzo Sonego retains his Genova title 62 46 76(6).@challengergenoa pic.twitter.com/soJnAdIgtJ
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 8, 2019
“It is extraordinary to win for the second year in a row in Genoa,” Sonego said. “I was very happy to come back here and it was a great week with a lot of support from the fans. It is a very well organized tournament and the level is really high. It was a splendid final, thanks to Alejandro, who played great. He will do very well in the future.”
By lifting his third ATP Challenger Tour career title, Sonego took away from Italian Riviera region €18,290 in prize money as well as 125 ATP Ranking points.
Behar/Escobar claim doubles title-
Earlier in the day, Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Gonzalo Escobar from Ecuador took the doubles title. The unseeded duo upset the tournament’s No. 3 seeds Guido Andreozzi and Andres Molteni from Argentina, winning 3-6, 6-4, 10-3. The encounter lasted one hour and 18 minutes.
“We are really happy,” the winners said during the on-court ceremony. “The level of the tournament was very high and we enjoyed to play in front of the Genova crowd.”
