V.Gaub’s record-breaking evening in Rome: hit the second racket of the tournament and reached the semi-finals

At the ATP Challenger Series Roma Garden Open men’s tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, the 19-year-old Vilius Gaubas (ATP-345) in the quarterfinals on Friday in 1 hour 28 minutes 6:3, 6:4 defeated the second-ranked 26-year-old American Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (ATP-138). The Lithuanian reached the semifinals of a tournament of this rank for the first time, and rose to record career highs in the virtual ATP ranking.

Due to the extension of the previously planned match, the duel between V.Gaubo and N.Moreno de Albirano was moved from the center court to another court. There, the Lithuanian immediately felt the rhythm of the game and started the match with a 3-0 run.

V.Gaubas could have accumulated an even bigger advantage, but in the fourth game he did not realize two “break points”. The Lithuanian maintained the advantage until the end of the set, not giving his opponent a single break point.

The breakthrough of the second set came in a dramatic fifth game. V.Gaubas did not realize three “break points” during that time, but there he created a fourth opportunity to win the opponent’s service series with a point – this time the Lithuanian provoked the opponent’s mistake and overturned the result. In the tenth game, the opponent almost did not save (30:40). Fortunately, the Lithuanian withstood the only “break point” created by his opponent and secured a memorable victory with 3 points in a row.

Match statistics:

These tennis players have not played against each other before. N. Moreno de Alboranas did not meet the other most capable Lithuanian players.

The American reached a record 121st position in the ATP singles ranking last year. He has won 5 professional singles tournaments: 3 on the ITF and 2 on the ATP Challenger Tour. Last year N. Moreno de Alboran made it to the main stage of the US Open for the first time, but fell in the first round.

This year, N. Moreno de Alboran has already proven that he can be competitive in higher ranking tournaments. At the ATP 250 tournament in Morocco, the American qualified, defeated such players as David Goffin and Facundo Diaz and went to the quarterfinals. True, the last two weeks were worse for the American – he remained winless in two ATP “Challenger” tournaments.

V. Gaubas earned 26 ATP singles ranking points and 3565 euros, and he will be waiting for him in the semi-finals Hugo Dellien (ATP-173) from Bolivia. In the virtual ATP ranking, the Lithuanian rose to his record – 304th – place.

The prize fund of the ATP “Challenger” series men’s tennis tournament in Rome consists of 74,825 thousand. euros.