Vasami ends 13-year wait for Italian winner at J500 Milan
Italy’s Jacopo Vasami has added his name to an illustrious list of former champions at the Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan.
The 17-year-old lefthander, who defeated Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanov 6-7(8) 6-2 6-1 in Sunday’s final, has also become the first Italian player to win at J500 Milan since Gianluigi Quinzi back in 2012.
“Winning the Bonfiglio trophy is something extraordinary,” Vasami said after sealing victory. “First of all, because it is a prestigious competition, and then you play at home.
“I really wanted to do well this week, I felt the responsibility of doing something important and I am very proud of this result.
“This success represents a very important step for me: in terms of awareness and in view of the next tournaments.”
Vasami’s victory not only puts him in the same list as players like Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, but it also puts him at a new career-high junior ranking of No. 4. The Italian is now in a very strong position to land a spot at the year-end World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu thanks to this and his earlier J500 title in Cairo.
It has been a strong year for Vasami. Since falling in the second round of the Junior Australian Open, he has picked up three consecutive junior titles, scored wins on both the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour, and was even awarded a wild card into the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome earlier this month.
He went on to explain that his next goals are to do well at the upcoming Junior Grand Slam events at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and to attempt to improve his ATP ranking.
Vujovic breaks into the Top 10
Serbia’s Luna Vujovic picked up the biggest title of her career after defeating USA’s Julieta Pareja 6-3 6-3 in the girls’ singles in Milan.
As a result of the win, Vujovic, who is just 15 years old, has now entered the junior Top 10 rankings for the first time (at No. 9) and is in top spot for the race to qualify for the World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu.
“This success means a lot to me,” she explained. “It is by far my best result. I have already played a J500 final in Mexico, but in that case I was not able to win the final; instead this time I did it and I am really happy.
“After this great victory I still have to stay focused because from Milan I go straight to Paris to prepare for Roland Garros Juniors. In the next few months, I hope to be able to play more WTA tournaments and, of course, get significant results in the Junior Grand Slams.”
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With Junior Roland Garros fast approaching, both Vasami and Vujovic will be buoyed by their performances on the Italian clay. Even more so because none of the current juniors Top 10 made it past the quarter-finals in Milan.
The junior Roland Garros event starts on Sunday and you can follow all the coverage on ITFTennis.com