Jaime Faria won this Sunday, February 25th, the 4th Vila Real de Santo António International Tennis Open.
This is the third and most important title of the 20-year-old tennis player's career, in a tournament with a prize money total of 25 thousand dollars.
The rain only allowed the final to start at 16pm, but Faria (00th in the ATP rankings) didn't need much time to overcome the Dutchman Jelie Sels (390th).
The tennis player from the High Performance Center of the Portuguese Tennis Federation was very solid in serving and did not let himself be affected by the 28-year-old Dutchman's changes in rhythm. A break in the seventh game of the opening set unbalanced the match, which ended after 78 minutes, with the scores 6-3, 6-0.
«It was special, it's my biggest title to date and right here – I lived in Castro Marim until I was 7 years old. I felt good, it was a calm game, I managed to set my pace from the beginning, which made me feel comfortable and it didn't always happen throughout the week when I had more complicated matches, but it gave me the baggage for today, to win a title that I had been looking for for some time. In the service games I was comfortable, I know it makes a dent and that's what I have to hold on to and then try to cause problems in the response games and I ended up being happy in that aspect», summed up the champion.
Faria is now traveling to Faro, to try to collect more points in order to get closer to the top 230, with the aim of competing in a qualifying round for a Grand Slam tournament this year.
«This title helps, but I have to focus game by game, tournament by tournament and on the work I have been doing at CAR, with my technical team. This start of the season has been quite positive, there are still four tournaments to go in the Algarve, the tennis is there and now it's time to manage physically", said Faria, one day after winning the doubles title, alongside João Domingues.
Sels, who was ranked 127th at the end of 2022, was resigned to today's defeat, in his second final in 2024.
«I didn't find the rhythm, but I think it was because he played well. I needed to be more present from the first point and I wasn't", admitted Sels, who also thanked the organization and the many Dutch people who came to support him throughout the two weeks he spent in Vila Real de Santo António.
The 4th Vila Real de Santo António International Tennis Open is an event of the ITF World Tennis Tour, organized by the Vila Real de Santo António Tennis Club, with the support of the Vila Real de Santo António City Council.
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