EL PRAT DE LLOBREGAT, October 6, 2019
Salvatore Caruso is the champion of the €46,600 Sanchez-Casal Head by NH Hotel Group. On a mostly cloudy Sunday morning in the Greater Barcelona area, the No. 4 seed from Italy defeated Jozef Kovalik from Slovakia 6-4, 6-2 in the singles final.
In front of about 200 spectators at the Sanchez-Casal Academy, Caruso was the dominant player and converted seven of his 10 break point chances to secure victory in one hour and 20 minutes.
By winning his second ATP Challenger career title at @SanchezCasal Acsdemy, Salvatore Caruso cracks the top 100 for the first time. pic.twitter.com/XsaGIi35Ql
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) October 6, 2019
“Jozef played really well throughout the week but I wanted so much to win this match. I think this made the difference today. By winning this tournament, I had the big opportunity to break into the top 100. I am very happy with the outcome,” Caruso told Tennis TourTalk.
By lifting his second ATP Challenger trophy following his maiden triumph on home soil in Como last year, the 26-year-old took away from Spain €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.
“I don’t want to stop here. This was the first big goal of the season. It is very important but I am looking forward to the next challenges. The goal remains to win as many matches as I can and to improve my tennis.
“It was a good week here. It was a bit tough with the wind at the beginning of the week but at least we had no rain. The tournament is really good with a nice hotel and we had a lot of courts to practice. The organization did a great job.”
Caruso also liked the opportunity of using the FoxTenn electronic line calling on clay.“Players and umpires are more relaxed, having the chance to use the review technology. We don’t have any fights with the umpires, so it’s a good idea to use it on clay, even at bigger tournaments,” the Italian commented and added: “I will next go back to Sicily for a week of practice. Then I will play indoors at the ATP event in Antwerp. We will see.”
