17-year-old Federico Cina is making a name for himself at theCrete Challenger 2 event in Hersonissos. The young Italian scored four wins to reach the final, becoming the first player born in 2007 to achieve that!
Making a milestone for your generation is always special, and Cina added his name to a special list. Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were the trailblazers for their generations at the Challenger Tour, and we know how much they have accomplished.
Cina needed time to show his A-game at this level, losing the opening seven encounters at the Challenger level. He achieved win in the previous three tournaments ahead ofCrete Challenger 2 and secured a milestone this week.
Federico faced the 2nd seed and former world no. 14 Aslan Karatsev in the semi-final and earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory in an hour and a half. The Italian claimed 13 points more than his opponent in challenging and windy conditions.
Cina served at 45%! He drew the most from that and defended five of seven break points to mount the pressure on the other side. Karatsev could not follow that pace. The Russian gave away half of the points in his games and got broken five times from seven chances presented to his rival.
A teenager welcomed the opponent's wayward forehand in the first game of the duel for an early break. Federico missed a forehand in the second game, dropping serve and bringing Aslan back to the positive side. The Russian denied a break point in the third game and held for 2-1.
They served well in the next four games, with the more experienced player landing a forehand winner in game seven for 4-3. Cina erased a break point in game eight with a service winner and caused the rival's mistake to bring the game home and level the score at 4-4.
The young gun stepped in on the return in the ninth game and forced Karatsev's mistake for a break and a 5-4 advantage. The Italian held at 15 in game ten with another caused mistakes, wrapping up the opener in 46 minutes.
Aslan held at love at the beginning of the second set and seized the fifth break chance in game two to forge an early advantage. The Russian squandered game points that could have sent him 3-0 up. Instead, Federico seized the second break point and reduced the deficit.
A teenager never looked back! He landed a fine drop shot in the fifth game for a break point and seized it after Karatsev's double fault. Cina closed the sixth game with an ace, moving 4-2 in front and closer to the finish line.
Aslan netted a forehand in the seventh game and faced more issues. He hit another double fault on a break point, falling 5-2 behind and allowing his rival to serve for the win. Federico landed a volley winner in game eight and generated two match points.
He converted the first when Aslan netted a slice, moving over the top and becoming the first player born in 2007 in the Challenger final.
