Giovanni Lapentti defeats Igor Kunitsyn in the final of the Seguros Bolivar Open
Unseeded Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador beat the fifth seeded Russian Igor Kunitsyn in the final of the Seguros Bolivar Open at San Jose, Costa Rica on Sunday evening. He wrapped up the contest in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, in just 89 minutes to bag the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour tournament.
A brilliant display of tennis skills was seen from the 28-year-old Ecuadorian; Lapentti proved his game to be better than the Russian in most segments of the game and gave no opportunities to Kunitsyn. Lapentti’s wasn’t broken during the match as he successfully defended the only break point he faced from the opponent.
The 29-year-old Russian has been in sublime form in the Seguros Bolivar Open, defeating his prior opponents assertively, but seemed to have dropped his game in the final. Kunitsyn slopped a number of unforced errors, including three double faults. His first serve percentage was 59 and his return game was bleak. Kunitsyn merely bagged 51, while his opponent collected 64 of the total 115 points played in the match.
The Ecuadorian had a quick start to the contest and belted some thudding winners down the line to pressurise his opponent. He clinched 16 out of 18 first serve points and 8 of 11 second serve points in the opener to make his impact over the match. Kunitsyn kept replying his opponent in the similar aggressive manner, hitting cross-court winners and holding his serve in his opening five games.
The Russian awarded four opportunities to his opponent to crack a serve break and Lapentti answered by converting just one chance. A break point in the 11th game by Lapentti made him serve for the first set at 6-5, after a forehand from Kunitsyn went sailing over the baseline. The Ecuadorian faced minimum resistance to serve out of the first set at 7-5 to get the upper hand in the contest.
The second set brought more worries for the Russian as his opponent uplifted his first serve percentage to an impressive 78 and collected 14 of 18 points on it. Kunitsyn’s unforced errors, including two costly double faults, exacerbated his position in the match. His opponent was quick to sting an early serve break to lead 3-1 in the set and then consolidated his position with his aggressive game play.
Lapentti played some elegant winners through the bleak defence of Kunitsyn, pushing the Russian on his back foot. Lapentti delivered the final hammer blow to his competitor by breaking serve at 5-3 to serve for the championship. The Ecuadorian faced no real trouble to serve out of the match at 6-3 and bag his career first ATP Challenger Tour trophy at Seguros Bolivar Open.
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