BUENOS AIRES/STARNBERG, January 10, 2021
Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna captured his first title on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 22-year-old Argentine was successful on home soil, lifting the trophy of the inaugural Dove Men & Care Legión Sudamericana Tigre hosted by the Club Naútico Hacoaj in Buenos Aires.
Rodriguez Taverna, No. 2 seed of the $37,520 clay-court event, defeated his compatriot and seventh seed Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-4, 6-2 in Sunday’s singles final. The World No. 302 capitalized on four of his five break-point chances to prevail after one hour and 31 minutes on Court Diego Schwartzman, which was recently inaugurated as part of the 85th anniversary of the Club Naútico Hacoaj and pays homage to the current World No. 13 who took his first steps on a tennis court at the club.
💪🏼🇦🇷 @santyelduke es el campeón del Challenger Dove Men+Care @LegionSudam Ciudad de Tigre 🏆
✅ a Facundo Díaz Acosta🇦🇷 6-4 6-2 pic.twitter.com/6k5MdpGJzJ
— Argentina Tenis (@AATenis) January 9, 2022
Rodriguez Taverna battled his way to the championship match with wins over German youngster Mats Rosenkranz, Argentines Juan Pablo Paz and Hernan Casanova as well as fourth favourite Gonzalo Lama of Chile. The Buenos Aires native, a winner of five ITF Pro Circuit tournaments, earned $5,150 in prize money as well as 50 ATP Ranking points. Rodriguez Taverna reached a new career-high ranking of World No. 266 on Monday.
Huertas de Pino/Rosenkranz claim doubles title
On Saturday, Conner Huertas del Pino of Peru and Mats Rosenkranz were crowned doubles champions. The duo benefited from the retirement of the all-Argentine combination of Matias Franco Descotte and Facundo Diaz Acosta in the final.
Huertas de Pino and Rosenkranz split $2,000 in prize money and pocketed 50 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
