Somerset’s Richard Gabb was on top form at the recent ITF Pro-Circuit Futures F36 event in Antalya - Belconti, Turkey after reaching the finals of both the men’s singles and men’s doubles draws.
Gabb, who was the fourth seed for the tournament at the Belconti Resort Hotel, flew through his first two singles matches without dropping a game. First, he beat New Zealand’s Ryoma Sloane 6-0, 6-0 before he dispatched Turkish wildcard Can Oztuzan by the same scoreline to reach the Quarter-finals.
The Somerset player’s last eight opponent was Ukrainian Denys Mylokostov who, despite being a qualifier, was the eighth seed. But, Gabb , from Street, made short work of Mylokostov as he continued his dominant form with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
In the semi-finals Gabb, 21, took on Swiss Dimitri Bretting for a spot in the final. A close first set was won by Gabb 6-4 and the Brit never looked back as he took the second set 6-2 to confirm his place in the final where he would face sixth seed Federico Gaio from Italy.
A strong start from Gabb saw him take the first set 6-2, but Gaio found some rhythm in the second as the set went to a tie-break, putting the fourth seed within 7 points of the title. But it was the Italian who emerged with the second set after winning the breaker 7-2 to force a decider. With momentum behind him Gaio pushed on in the third set and took it 6-1 to claim the win.
Gabb’s hopes for the doubles will have been high as he went into the draw alongside Israeli Dekel Bar as the number one seeded pair. A strong start to their title challenge saw them reach the drop just 11 games in three matches as they reached the final with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Stanislav Korshunov of Russia and Andrei Novikov of Belarussia in the semi-finals.
The final saw the top seeds come up against Gabb’s singles final opponent Gaio and his partner Laurynas Grigelis from Lithuania who were the third seeds. Similarly to the singles final, Gabb took an early lead after taking the first set, winning it 6-1. But, unfortunately for the Somerset player, the similarities did not end there as Gaio and Grigelis came back to take the second set 6-3, forcing a deciding champions tie-break. A tense few points followed and it was Gaio and Grigelis who prevailed as they took the breaker 10-8 to seal the title.
After his performance at this event, both of Gabb’s singles and doubles rankings have risen to 507 and 315 respectively as he continues to work towards breaking into the world’s top 500.
Click Here for more information on Richard Gabb at the F36 Futures event in Turkey
By Harry Lund