They barely had any time to enjoy their victory in the final of the WPT Mijas-Costa del Sol Open and Franco Stupaczuk and Cristian Gutierrez were again meeting Mati Diaz and Maxi Sanchez (no.3 in the ranking) for a final. Same leading actors but different playing field. In this occasion the island of Gran Canaria was were the Gran Canaria Isla Europea Del Deporte Open 2017 was taking place.
The couple formed by our players Stupa and Cristian won a match in which they showed great strength, just as they had been doing throughout the tournament. They won by 7-5 in the first set, which had very long games. In the second set the couple released their repertoire of strokes and got a result of 6-1, giving them the victory.
This was, hands down, their best tournament. They had a light of their own and got to beat Fernando Belasteguin and Pablo Lima (no.1 in the ranking) in the quarter-finals after a fantastic 3-set match.
In the semi-finals they played against Miguel Lamperti and Juani Mieres in a 2-set match with a result of 6/7-6/7, where all details were decisive. Stupa and Cristian won both tie-breaks. Despite their elimination, it was very good news to see Miguel and Juani play at such a high level.
This is the second consecutive victory in an Open final for Franco Stupaczuk this season, apart from his victory in a Challenger. This young 21-year-old has been named Best Player of the tournament.
The couple confirms their great conditions as a combination of Cristian Gutierrez's experience, a "capo" of the court, together with Stupa's young spirit and physical power, as well as the good practices of their coach Carlos Pozzoni in terms of technical management. This combination is now showing its results, after starting the season with a more irregular first phase.
In NOX, we feel extremely proud of the significant role our men's TeamNOX is playing.
CONGRATULATIONS!