FORLI/STARNBERG, January 24, 2022

Pavel Kotov finished his 2021 season by lifting the trophy in Forli in December. Last week, the 23-year-old Russian returned to the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy to capture the title of the Città di Forli 3.

Kotov battled past Frenchman Quentin Halys, No. 2 seed of the €45,730 hard-court tournament hosted by the Cooperativa Tennis Villa Carpena, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-3 in Sunday’s singles final. The World No. 231 fired seven aces, won 81 per cent of his first-service points and broke his rival two times to secure victory in two hours and 36 minutes.

“I want to thank the organizers here in Forlì, who did an exceptional job in these difficult times. I didn’t think I’d win twice at the same club, happy that it happened at this Italian tournament,” said Kotov.

The World No. 231 booked his spot in the championship match without losing a set, celebrating wins over Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan, Daniel Masur of Germany, Czech veteran Lukas Rosol and Frederico Ferreira Silva from Portugal. By claiming his second ATP Challenger career title, Kotov earned €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.

“The final was tough and even. Now I hope that with the points gained in Forli, I will be able to climb up the rankings to achieve a better position that will allow me to play tournaments on the ATP Tour in the near future,” Kotov said.

Cornea/Fallert triumph in doubles

On Saturday, Victor Vlad Cornea from Romania and Fabian Fallert of Germany clinched the doubles title. The tandem fought past Jonas Forejtek of the Czech Republic and Jelle Sels from the Netherlands 6-4, 6-7(6), 10-7. The encounter lasted one hour and 44 minutes.

Cornea and Fallert secured their first team title. They split €2,670 in prize money and pocketed 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.