Flavio Cobolli turned his season around by winning the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title on Saturday night. Cobolli defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes to win his third ATP title.
Heading into Delray Beach last week, the 23-year-old was on a four-game losing streak with three straight losses to opponents outside the top 100. However, he set the stage for success in Acapulco by gaining momentum with a Delray Beach semifinal appearance.
Now, Cobolli is a two-time champion at the ATP 500 level.
“When I was a child,” thought the Italian, “I dreamed of this moment – this kind of tournament, playing on the field with people cheering me on. I am very proud, not only of myself, but also of the people who work for me – my father, my family, my whole team.”
At the Chile Open, Luciano Darderi continued his top clay court form with a 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory over Yannick Hanfmann on Sunday evening. Darderi withstood 10 Hanfmann aces to break serve three times and win after one hour and 47 minutes.
“[Iām] I feel really good,” confirmed the Italian.” “I didn’t expect to win this week, because I’ve never played more than the quarterfinals here. So I’m very happy. It’s my second final this year, so to take the title so early is very impressive and I’m taking a lot of confidence into the year.”
Darderi is 21-2 in his last 23 clay-court matches, a hot streak that now includes four titles (three ATPs and one Challenger).
