SAN MARINO/STARNBERG, August 15, 2022
Pavel Kotov has claimed his first clay-court title by winning the Internazionali Di Tennis – San Marino Open hosted by the Centro Tennis Cassa di Risparmio. The No. 2 seed of the €67,960 ATP Challenger Tour tournament, held in the mountainous microstate of San Marino, defeated eighth-seeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(5), 6-4 in Sunday’s championship match.
Kotov booked his spot in the singles final with wins over Norwegian qualifier Viktor Durasovic, Frenchman Maxime Janvier, Italian qualifier Alexander Weis and Marco Cecchinato of Italy.
The World No. 130 from Russia capitalized on three of his eight break-point chances and won 52 per cent of the total points played to prevail after two hours and nine minutes.
The moment Kotov won in San Marino 🙌#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/kpvHWSFeTj
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 15, 2022
“It was a really great atmosphere on the court tonight,” Kotov told the crowd during the trophy ceremony. “Thanks for the warmth with which you followed this match. I love San Marino.”
By lifting his third Challenger career trophy, his second of the season following his triumph in Forli, Italy in late January, Kotov earned €9,200 in prize money as well as 90 ATP Ranking points.
Bortolotti/Martos Gornes triumph in doubles
On Saturday, Marco Bortolotti of Italy and Sergio Martos Gornes earned the doubles title. The unseeded duo beat third favourites Ivan and Matej Sabanov of Serbia 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes.
By winning their second team title after Napoli last year, Bortolotti and Martos Gornes split €3,950 in prize money and collected 90 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
