It was a case of being glad that I have two monitors attached to my laptop when the doubles final in Caltanissetta got underway as the ceremonies began in Paris at the end of the boys’ doubles final. Being seeded, Ajeet Rai and Tom Fancutt were the clear favourites over the Italian pair of Alessandro Coccioli and Lorenzo Lorusso, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that much at this level, especially when it gets to the business end of a tournament.
The difference was that, although Rai and Fancutt had had a walkover in their quarter-final, the Italians had only needed to play their first round match, being gifted victories against both the top seeds and the team who had beaten the fourth seeds in the quarter-final. Even though the match was on clay, I was still surprised that there were no line judges to assist the chair umpire. Although there were no complaints from the players, apart from the odd look of disbelief, it became increasingly obvious as the match wore on that he really should have had some help.
That lack of match play showed in the first game when three unforced errors in a row from the pair cost Lorusso an immediate break of serve. They got it straight back, though, forcing Fancutt into two forehand errors to finish his first game. Coccioli held comfortably before Rai did the same, the latter game featuring a beautiful cross-court forehand winner from the New Zealander before Lorusso saved the first game point with a lovely forehand return through the right-hand side of the court.
The latter then held safely, as did Fancutt, but Coccioli started with two unforced errors before Fancutt hit a superb cross-court forehand return into the corner, and Lorusso was forced to hit a forehand volley long to complete a break to love. Just as the first break had been immediately cancelled out, this one was too. Coccioli’s backhand volley to win a good rally between Rai and himself gave the Italians a break point, and Coccioli converted it himself with a beautiful soft cross-court forehand winner into the tramlines.
Lorusso then held comfortably before hitting a fabulous angled forehand drop volley to win a good short rally, but that was eclipsed on the next point by the shot of the match, a fantastic backhand lob down the right-hand tramline by Rai to end a great rally. Fancutt went on to hold before saving Coccioli’s first game point with a fabulous forehand return. He couldn’t do anything with the second, being forced into a backhand error, and Rai then gave away a set point when he hit a forehand over the baseline after double faulting twice earlier in the game.
A good serve on the deciding point forced Coccioli to mishit his forehand return straight up in the air, and that hold took them to a tie-break. All went well until Coccioli double faulted, but Rai did the same on the next point to make them all square as they changed ends. A poor forehand from Lorusso allowed Rai to hold his serve again, but another on his own first serve cost Lorusso what turned out to be the crucial mini-break. Unreturnable serves from himself and Fancutt gave the third seeds two set points, and Lorusso was forced to leave a forehand short of the net to end a good short rally. The set had taken 53 minutes.
It was Fancutt’s turn to hit two double faults in a game when he started the second set, the second of those giving away a deuce, but the great rally on the deciding point ended when Coccioli hit a forehand over the baseline. Fancutt and Rai then both hit stunning backhand returns down the tramlines before Coccioli overhit a forehand volley to cost himself a break point. He saved that with a big forehand that flew off Fancutt’s racquet, but lost the deciding point to a gorgeous backhand return down the singles sideline from Rai.
Rai then held comfortably before getting aced down the middle to complete a hold to love from Lorusso. Fancutt didn’t lose a point, either, with three unreturnable serves being followed by his jumping overhead volley, but Coccioli and Lorusso hit three unforced errors between them in the next game before Coccioli could only flail wildly at a ball that he had to chase back under the camera.
The extra break meant that Rai was now serving for the match, and he held to love as well when Coccioli made a mess of his final return of serve. It completed a set where Fancutt and Rai had won every single one of their 13 first serves that landed in play. The final score was 7-6 (4), 6-1, and the match had lasted an hour and 19 minutes. It was Rai’s 21st ITF doubles title, and Fancutt’s 30th. The first of their eight titles together came four years ago in Changwon, and this is their fourth this year.