Historic victory: V.Gaubas – in the finals of the ATP “Challenger” tournament!

At the ATP Challenger Series Roma Garden Open men’s tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, the 19-year-old Vilius Gaubas (ATP-345) on Saturday in the semifinals in one and a half hours 6:4, 7:5 surpassed the 30th racket of the tournament Hugo Dellien (ATP-173) from Bolivia and achieved the most resounding victory of his career so far.

In the fourth game, V. Gaubas “dryly” lost his serving series and was behind 1:3, but already in the next game he successfully played during the opponent’s serving and took the initiative from H. Dellien.

Later, the fight continued for some time (3:3, 4:4). In the ninth game, V.Gaubas took the lead for the first time when he won the serving series of the Bolivian (5:4). In the tenth game, the Lithuanian confidently served the ball and won the first set (6:4).

In the second set, V. Gaubas also eliminated the deficit of 2 games (0:2, 2:2).

Unfortunately, in the eighth game, H. Dellien broke away once more. V.Gaubas fell behind by 0:40 during his serves and neutralized only one “break point” (3:5). In the ninth game, H. Dellien had a “set point” (30:40), but he did not realize it, when V. Gaubas fantastically accepted the opponent’s serve. Later, the Bolivian made another mistake, the Lithuanian created a break point, and then won the game with the help of the net (4:5).

In the eleventh game, V. Gaubas took the initiative into his own hands. The Lithuanian “dryly” won the opponent’s serving series and was one step away from a historic victory. In the twelfth game, V.Gaub still had to get tired. H. Dellien withstood two “match points” and leveled the result of the game (40:40), but right there the Lithuanian created a third “match point” and won it.

In this match, V.Gaubas realized all 5 created “break points” and according to almost all statistical indicators, he had a slight advantage over his opponent.

Match statistics:

These tennis players have not played against each other before. in 2020 H. Dellien at the prestigious “Roland Garros” tournament met with Richard Berankis and lost to him by result 1:6, 4:6, 4:6.

H. Dellienas in 2011 was the second world junior (under 18) racket. Meanwhile, the Bolivian was even 64th in the ATP ranking a couple of years ago.

During his professional career, H. Dellien has won as many as 26 singles tournaments: 16 on the ITF tour and 10 on the ATP “Challenger”. He has played in every Grand Slam and reached the second round at Roland Garros and the US Open. Among the most famous opponents defeated by H.Dellien are: Ernest Gulbis, Gilles Simon, Dominic Thiem and Janko Tipsarevičius.

In this season, the Bolivian played mostly in ATP world tour tournaments, where he did not go far, and often fell out in the qualification. This week’s tournament in Rome is the most successful for H. Dellien in 2024. in season

For V.Gaub, the victory secured 48 ATP singles ranking points and 6015 euros, and the Spaniard will be waiting for him in the final on Sunday Alejandro Moro Can (ATP-218). It is already clear that V.Gaubas will rise to record career heights in the ATP ranking. Currently, the Lithuanian is 283rd in the virtual ranking.

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