HAMBURG, Germany — Italy’s Flavio Koboli won the biggest title of his career when he defeated the third seed 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Hamburg Open.
Ranked 35th in the world, Cobolli only had the ATP 250 title, which won the Romanian Open last month, but has two 23-year-old titles, 23-year-old after beating Rublev in the final of the ATP 500 event.
He is the third player to win multiple titles on this year’s ATP Tour, Carlos Alcaraz (3) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (2), with his victory coming in 26th in the rankings.
“I think it’s certainly the best moment and match of my life. I played incredibly today so I have to say sorry to Andrei. I’m so happy and proud of myself,” Koboli said. “I can see my family, friends, siblings and girlfriends here. It’s a surprise. I’m really happy. I’ve passed a lot of fights this year. This kind of day is good for your heart. I’m very happy. (Lift up) the trophy.”
After Cobolli scored the opening set with convincingness, Rublev went up 3-2 in the second, but the momentum changed after a 31-shot rally where the Russians tried to run Koboli at most points.
Kobori turned the table when he fired the burnt forehand winner to score points. The Italians roared the crowd with their hands on their ears, and Rublev bent out of exhaustion.
Rublev never recovered and scored seven breakpoints in the contest, but Cobolli saved six of them.
The Italian converted all his four breakpoint chances into bringing together the match in an hour and 28 minutes.
However, he doesn’t have time to rest as he looks forward to a match against past Grand Slam champion Marine Silick in the first round of the French Open, which begins on Sunday.
