OEIRAS, April 12, 2021

Five years after fracturing a vertebrae in his back and fighting to stay healthy, Pedro Cachin has returned to the winners’ circle on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 25-year-old Argentine took the title of the €31,440 Oeiras Open 2 hosted by the Complexo Desportivo Nacional do Jamor in Oeiras, Portugal.

Qualifier Cachin battled through the top half of the main draw with wins over No. 4 seed Elliot Benchetrit of Morocco, Bulgarian Adrian Andreev, fifth seed Gian Marco Moroni from Italy and local favourite Goncalo Oliveira to reach the title match. On Sunday, the World No. 294 defeated Nuno Borges from Portugal 7-6(4), 7-6(3).

Cachin saved eight set points in the second set and outpointed his opponent 96-89 to prevail after one hour and 58 minutes.

That championship feeling. @pecachin1 ☺️ pic.twitter.com/lF8v4l1fQ5

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 11, 2021

“Nuno is a very tough rival and difficult to play. It was a tough and intense match,” said Cachin. “The first set was not so physical because it was very fast, but it was mentally complicated. In the second, I missed a chance at the beginning, he took advantage and I went down a little bit. He started to play better and then missed a lot of opportunities. I enjoyed it and I am very happy.”

Following his maiden triumph at the Copa Sevilla 2015 and reaching a career-high of World No. 166 the same year, Cachin earned his second Challenger title and pocketed €4,400 in prize money as well as 50 ATP Ranking points.

Later in the day, Borges returned to the Court Central to win the doubles title alongside his compatriot Francisco Cabral. The unseeded duo defeated Pavel Kotov of Russia and teenager Chun-Hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei 6-1, 6-2. The encounter lasted 48 minutes.