Pune, March 1 Sixth seed Federico Cina saved five match points to defeat Britain's Felix Gill and win the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship here on Sunday.
In a thrilling contest that lasted two hours and 29 minutes, Cina held his nerve in the decisive tie-break to prevail 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(1).
Cina looked in control after taking the opening set 6-3 with aggressive baseline play and solid serving. However, Gill fought back strongly in the second set, breaking at a crucial stage to level the match at one set apiece.
The third set witnessed high-quality rallies and intense baseline exchanges, with neither player willing to concede ground.
Cina was down five times on his serve at 5-6 with his back to the wall and facing match points, but he valiantly fought his way back every time to disappoint Gill in front of a capacity crowd backing him.
He held on to force a third set tie-break in which the 18-year-old Cina, a native of Palermo, raised his level remarkably, dominating the breaker 7-1 to seal the championship in commanding fashion.
The singles champion was awarded a trophy, USD 17,000 and 75 ATP ranking points, while the runner-up received a trophy, USD 9,600 and 40 ATP ranking points.
