Rubio and Piotto dominate in Kuala Lumpur

Gonzalo Rubio–Nacho Piotto, No. 42 and 56 in the FIP Ranking, have been crowned champions of the FIP Silver in Kuala Lumpur, held in Malaysia. Their victory was sealed by a decisive win in the final against the tournament’s No. 2 seeds, Denis Perino–Antonio “Pincho” Fernandez (7–5 6–1). In the semi-finals, the champions had overcome Pepe Aliaga–Pau Miñano in a closely contested match that was decided only in a third-set tie-break (4–6 6–3 7–6). For Piotto, the title claimed in Malaysia marks his first of the year on the CUPRA FIP Tour, while his partner had already lifted the trophy at the FIP Bronze in Mumbai. Thanks to this success, Rubio maintains the top position in the all-time list of circuit victories (14). The Spaniard shares this record with Jose Luis Gonzalez, Marco Cassetta and Flavio Abbate. Over the weekend, the first two won the FIP Silver in Bari together, while the third triumphed at the FIP Bronze in Cyprus II. “This was our first time in Kuala Lumpur – said Rubio after the victory -. I would like to thank everyone”. Piotto also commented on the result: “I am very happy”.

In the women’s draw, Julia Polo (51) and Patri Martinez (56) were crowned champions in Malaysia after defeating Giorgia Marchetti and Léa Godallier in the final (2–6 6–4 7–5). In the semi-finals, the champions overcame the two Dutch players who had defeated them in last week’s FIP Bronze final in Kuala Lumpur: Marcella Koek and Bo Luttikhuis. For Polo and Martinez, this success represents their second title of the year on the CUPRA FIP Tour: the former had won, also in April, the FIP Bronze in Eidsvoll, Norway, while the latter had become champion at the FIP Bronze in Kaunas, Lithuania, in March.