Virtanen saves 2 MPs, defends Lugano Challenger title

4° Città di Lugano

Finland’s Otto Virtanen saved two championship points Sunday to successfully defend his title at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Lugano, Switzerland.

The 22-year-old, who has won 13 of his past 14 matches, escaped German qualifier Daniel Masur 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3) in the 4° Città di Lugano final after two hours and 41 minutes.

Seeded second, the 6’4” Virtanen hammered 16 aces and fended off 11 of 13 break points faced to claim his second Challenger trophy this season. A pivotal moment came at 5-6 in the decider, when Virtanen erased two championship points on his serve.

Virtanen is the first player this year to defend an ATP Challenger Tour title. At No. 126 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Virtanen, who won last month’s Pau Challenger, is a perfect 5-0 in finals at that level.

Virtanen joins former World No. 13 Jarkko Nieminen as the only Finns to win five Challenger titles before their 23rd birthday.

Two Argentines also added to their trophy cabinets this weekend. Camilo Ugo Carabelli won his second ATP Challenger Tour title this season while countryman Marco Trungelliti returned to the winners’ circle for the first time since 2019.

Ugo Carabelli, 24, ousted home hope Murkel Dellien 6-4, 6-2 in the Challenger Bolivia final. The Buenos Aires native, who last month played Carlos Alcaraz at his home tournament, boasts an 11-1 Challenger-level record this year, with his lone loss coming to Dellien in Punta del Este.

Lift it up, @camilougo 👏#ATPChallenger | @AATenis pic.twitter.com/vkTgrMmaEZ

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 10, 2024

The 26-year-old Dellien, who in the first round defeated his brother Hugo Dellien, was aiming to become just the third Challenger champion from Bolivia.

A six-time ATP Challenger Tour titlist, Ugo Carabelli has been working with former World No. 37 Carlos Berlocq for nine months.

While Berlocq is now in the coaches corner, his countryman Trungelliti joined the two-time tour-level titlist as the only Challenger champions from Argentina aged 34 and over by winning the Rwanda Challenger. Berlocq won two titles at that level past age 34.

Trungelliti beat Frenchman Clement Tabur 6-4, 6-2 in Sunday's final to capture his third Challenger crown and first since 2019.

“I am really happy to have won today,” said the 34-year-old Trungelliti. “The last time I won a Challenger was five years ago in Italy. Thank you to Rwanda for its hospitality and generosity.”

Trungelliti ended his five-match skid in Challenger finals, which included last week’s championship match loss to Kamil Majchrzak in the first of two events held in Kigali. In Saturday’s semi-finals, Trungelliti avenged his loss to the Pole Majchrzak and one day later was lifting the trophy.

Rwanda is just the seventh African country to host a Challenger tournament, joining Morocco, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Kenya.

Kigali will always be a special place for Marco Trungelliti 🤩#ATPChallenger | @tennis_rwanda pic.twitter.com/BYED5Mb5mq

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 10, 2024