At the ATP Challenger Series Roma Garden Open men’s tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, the 19-year-old Vilius Gaubas (ATP-345) at the start of the main stage in 1 hour 17 minutes 6:4, 6:1 won against the 27-year-old Italian ranked 7th in the tournament Andrea Pellegrino (ATP-166).
At the beginning of the first set, V.Gaubas created a number of break points. In the first game, the Lithuanian did not realize two of his opportunities, but in the fifth game he managed to win a series of servings of his opponent. A.Pellegrino later tried to save himself, in the eighth game he was within a point of V.Gaub’s winning series of serves, but the Lithuanian held on.
In the second set, V. Gaubas simply dominated the court. The Lithuanian won 3 more serving series of his opponent, and A.Pellegrino did not create any more break points.
V.Gaubas won even 83% of his first innings in this match. played balls, while the opponent – only 47 percent.
Match statistics:
Match statistics: A.Pellegrino – V.Gaubas | Photo of the organizers.
These tennis players have never played against each other before. A. Pellegrino in 2018 I had to meet another Lithuanian Lauryn Grigelius – that time the Italian celebrated the victory 6:7 (7:9), 6:2, 6:4. A.Pellegrino and L.Grigel used to successfully play doubles together in 2019. won the ATP Challenger tournament in Italy.
A. Pellegrino in 2022 had reached a record – 136th – place in the ATP ranking. The Italian has won 8 professional singles tournaments: 5 ITF and 3 ATP Challenger. It is true that A.Pellegrino achieved the biggest victory of his career in doubles. Last year, an Italian with a compatriot Andrea Vavassori won the ATP 250 tournament in Chile.
This season, the Italian plays not only the ATP Challenger, but also higher-ranked tournaments. It is true that A. Pellegrino did not qualify for the ATP 250, ATP 500, or “Grand Slam” tournaments this year.
For V.Gaub, who started from the qualification, the victory secured 10 ATP singles ranking points and 1200 euros, and the Frenchman will be waiting for him in the round of 16 Matteo Martineau (ATP-186).
In the virtual ATP ranking, V.Gaubas is ahead again Richard Berankis and can regain the status of the first Lithuanian racket depending on the results of this week.
The prize fund of the ATP “Challenger” series men’s tennis tournament in Rome consists of 74,825 thousand. euros.
