Around 400 spectators attended the central court "Alex Corretja" to witness, under intense heat, a match that was presented a priori as very even, Tsonga in position 313 in the ATP lists and coming from the previous phase, and Prpic in position 240.
The first set was won by Tsonga who started very strong and at a higher level, by 6/3, encouraged by a public that remembered his triumph two years ago in the same scenario. But from the fourth game of the second set, the Swede began to react, taking advantage of the fact that Tsonga was declining in his physical condition, and based on good points he won this set by 6/3.
As time went by, the match was losing quality, but gaining in emotion, given the uncertainty of the result, and with a public devoted to Tsonga, a likeable player. Tsonga's effort to come back was in vain, much to the disappointment of the respectable, who saw the set and the match awarded to the Swede by 6/4, in one hour and fifty-five minutes, with the French Kader Nouni being the referee of the event, who was impeccable in his task. The winner takes 50 ATP points and 3,600 dollars in prize money, while his rival won 35 points and 2,120 dollars.
The Swede, who has had a great tournament, defeated the American Mc Duffee in the first round (6/1, 6/0), the British Bloomfield in the round of 16 (6/3 and 6/1), the tournament's top seed, the Taiwanese Wang, in the quarter-finals (6/4 and 6/1), and the German Benedikt Dorsch in the semi-finals by 6/4 and 6/4.
The awards ceremony was presided over by the president of the Island Council of Lanzarote, Inés Rojas de León, and the mayor of Tías, José Juan Cruz Saavedra, with the general manager of the Fariones Group, Bienvenido Saavedra, acting as master of ceremonies.
On Friday afternoon, the doubles final had been held, with the victory going to the Frenchmen Gregory Carraz and Jean Michel Pequery by 6/3 and 7/5 against the duo Dorsch and Korteling.
The V edition of the Open Lanzarote, Grupo Fariones Trophy, has been a complete success, as Bienvenido Saavedra pointed out in his speech, thanking the institutions and collaborating companies for their support, expressing his hope that the tournament will reach higher levels.
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