BARLETTA/STARNBERG, August 30, 2021
Giulio Zeppieri is the champion of the €44,820 Open Citta Della Disfida Trofeo La Pulita & Service. In the first-ever all-Italian ATP Challenger Tour final between teenagers, the 19-year-old Rome native fought past Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 under the lights at the Circolo Tennis Hugo Simmen in Barletta, Italy on Sunday evening.
Zeppieri battled his way through the bottom half of the clay-court tournament, beating Timofey Skatov from Kazakhstan, his compatriots Andrea Arnaboldi and Julian Occleppo as well as No. 8 seed Chun-hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei to reach the title match.
Zeppieri, a winner of one ITF World Tennis Tour title two years ago, converted five of his nine break-point chances to seal victory in one hour and 37 minutes.
By lifting his first trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour, the lefty pocketed on home soil €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.
2019: Jannik Sinner
2020: Lorenzo Musetti
2021: Giulio ZeppieriFor a third straight year, an Italian teen has won an #ATPChallenger title!
Giulio Zeppieri defeats Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to claim the 🏆 in Barletta pic.twitter.com/JPnUkeq9op
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 29, 2021
Bortolotti/Rodriguez take doubles title
On Saturday, Marco Bortolotti of Italy and Cristian Rodriguez from Colombia claimed the doubles title. The duo defeated the all-Dutch combination of Gijs Brouwer and Jesse Sels 6-2, 6-4. The final lasted 55 minutes.
By winning their first team title on the ATP Challenger Tour, Bortolotti and Rodriguez split €2,670 in prize money and collected 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
A strong week in Barletta 💪
🇮🇹 Marco Bortolotti & 🇨🇴 Cristian Rodriguez defeat Brouwer & Sels 6-2, 6-4 to claim their first title together!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/EkUDuXdyuw
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 28, 2021
