Javi Rico in a tournament in Sardinia/ Photo: FIP
The couple, of Valencian origin, have won their first tournament together and they have done it at home. Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri have won the final of the FIP Promotion of La Cala held in Finestrat (Alicante), after defeating the Spanish-Argentine duo of Mario Ortega and Ignacio Piotto in the final by 4-6/7-6/6-3 . . Rico and Esbri fulfilled their role as seeds, and after overcoming a first set down in the final, they certified their victory in the tournament.
The first set started in the best way for the Esbri-Rico duo, who got the break in the first game of the match and increased their advantage, with their serve, to make the score 2-0. Mario Ortega and Ignacio Piotto tried to equalize the set, but the Spanish couple was strong on serve.
When Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri were facing the first set, with a 4-2 in their favor, Piotto and Ortega did not give up and managed to turn it around. They broke their rivals’ serve twice and together with their service they won four consecutive games that helped them take the first set 6-4, after a great comeback in the final stretch of the set.
Maximum equality in the second set
Equality was being reflected on the court and in the second set both couples came out very aggressive. This translated into a very even second set, in which a couple managed to break their rivals’ serve and they responded with another break to keep the score equal.
This second set was so even that it went to a tiebreak. Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri won the tiebreaker, although they had to overcome being behind on the scoreboard during the tiebreaker. The Spanish couple managed to turn it around and equalize the match, after a good point in which neither Ortiz nor Piotto could do anything to hit back and they sent the ball against the wall.
In the last set Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri took the match one step further. For their part, the Spanish-Argentine duo responded to the more aggressive play of their rivals during the third set, but the rest that Rico and Esbri took was the turning point that tipped the balance in their favor. Piotto and Ortega had several opportunities to tie the match, but Esbri and Rico were solid on serve and managed to make it 6-3 in the third set with which they closed the match after losing the first set and turning the match around in the two next sleeves.
