Buenos Aires, Feb 16 (IANS) Top seed and local favorite Francisco Cerundolo secured his fourth ATP title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Italy’s Luciano Darderi in the Argentina Open final.

A defeated finalist in 2021 and 2025, hometown favourite Cerundolo held his nerve in a see-saw final set, in which all but two games featured at least one break point, to lift his fourth ATP Tour trophy and his first on Argentine soil.

Cerundolo struggled at times on serve but dominated at the baseline to take the match in one hour and 37 minutes on the outdoor clay of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

The 27-year-old broke Darderi early in both sets and sealed victory with a trademark inside-out forehand.

“This is the best moment of my career so far,” said Cerundolo, who had lost two previous finals at the ATP 250 event.

“I wanted to win in my hometown and country, in front of my family and friends. I thought this day might never come but today I played one of the best matches of my career.”

“I played aggressively and didn’t let him take the initiative at any stage. It’s a final so you have to go for it, and I played for every point here.”

Second seed Darderi won 73 percent of points on his first serve but just 24 percent on his second, while committing 29 unforced errors.

The No. 19 player in the ATP Rankings, Cerundolo is the seventh home champion in the history of the Argentina Open, which was first held in 2001. The 27-year-old has now won a Tour-leading 46 matches on clay since the start of the 2024 season, two more than second-placed Darderi.

Despite missing out on his fifth ATP Tour title, Darderi will climb to a career-high world No. 21 on Monday while Cerundolo remains at No. 19.

–IANS

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