Ronald Slobodchikov ended a run of three straight defeats in finals on the ITF World Tennis Tour to collect his sixth career title with victory over Colombia’s Alejandro Gomez at M25 Naples, FL. 

The 26-year-old Russian, who had fallen in title matches at three separate M15 tournaments in Antalya in October, November and December, overcame qualifier Gomez 5-7 6-1 6-4 in a three-set contest on Sunday to collect his first tournament win since July 2019, when he won at M15 Kramsach.

The world No. 432, who has won all six of his ITF titles on his favoured clay, edged closer to his career-high ATP ranking of No. 421 with the triumph, which came in his 14th appearance in an ITF pro singles final.

Gomez, meanwhile, who had won 10-7 in the match tie-break in his final qualifying match before stringing another four straight-sets wins together in the main draw, missed out on the opportunity to win a first career title outside of Colombia.

All five of Gomez’s previous title wins came on home soil, including his most recent triumph - in Santa Marta in December.

American wild cards Martin Damm and Toby Kodat secured their first professional title of any kind after seeing off Colombian duo Nicolas Barrientos and Cristian Rodriguez in the doubles final 4-6 6-4 [10-7].

Damm, 16, and Kodat, 17 won a junior title together in 2019 but had won just one match together at professional level – in their Grand Slam debut together as a wild card pairing at the 2019 US Open – and their triumph was particularly notable for the scalp of top seeds Hunter and Yates Johnson in a 10-8 deciding tie-break in the opening round.

Former WTA star Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was in attendance through the week at M25 Naples and is pictured in the award ceremony photos.