Pellegrino/Vavassori Save MP To Win Santiago Doubles Title

Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori won a dramatic doubles final on Saturday to claim the Movistar Chile Open title in their team debut. The Italians saved a match point at 9/10 in a Match Tie-break before closing out a 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 victory against Thiago Seyboth Wild and Matias Soto.

A single break of serve decided both sets before Pellegrino/Vavassori battled back from 0/3 in the Match Tie-break, building an 8/5 lead and ultimately clinching victory on their second match point.

“It was incredible winning with one of my closest friends,” the 27-year-old Vavassori said after claiming his second tour-level title. “We are like brothers, so winning a title like this is something special. We worked a lot with my coach and also with my father in the past three months.”

Pellegrino, 25, won his first ATP Tour trophy in his first final.

“Like Andrea says, it’s incredible to be here with an ATP title,” he reflected. “Winning an ATP title with him is really emotional. I’m really happy for that. This tournament is very nice, they treat us unbelievably. The organisation is something special and I hope to come back next year.”

Discussing the back-and-forth finish to the final, he added: “We were a little bit tight but in doubles it’s like that with the no-ad and the Match Tie-break in the third set. The matches are very close so you have to be there every point. We were a little bit lucky at the end but we are happy for the title.”

Wild cards Seyboth Wild and Soto were also making their team debut this week. After winning three Match Tie-breaks to reach what was a first tour-level doubles final for both, the Brazilian/Chilean pair fell just short on the fourth occasion.

The 22-year-old Seyboth Wild, the 2020 Santiago singles champion, was seeking to become the first player win both the singles and doubles title at the ATP 250. Soto, 23, made his tour-level debut this week on home soil.