Flavio Cobolli turned his season around by winning the title at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Saturday night. Cobolli defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes for his third ATP winner’s trophy.
Heading into Delray Beach the previous week, the 23-year-old had been on a four-match losing streak with three consecutive straight-set losses to opponents outside of 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 kid,” the Italian reflected, “I was dreaming for this moment — for this kind of tournament, playing on the center court with people cheering for me. I’m very proud, not only for me, but also for the people that work for me — my dad, my family, the rest of my team.”
At the Chile Open, Luciano Darderi continued his dominant 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 triumph after one hour and 47 minutes.
“[I’m] feeling really great,” the Italian assured. “I didn’t expect to win this week, because I never played more than the quarterfinals here. So I’m very happy. It’s my second final of the year, so taking a title early is very impressive and I take a lot of confidence for the rest of the year.”
Darderi is 21-2 in his last 23 clay-court matches, a hot streak that now features four titles (three ATPs and one Challenger).