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Back in June, the Argentinian tennis player Federico Coria has been suspended for eight months and fined $10,000 for committing breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Six months of the period of ineligibility has been suspended on condition that he commits no further offenses, with half of the fine ($5,000) also being suspended on the same terms.
Coria, a younger brother of a Masters 1000 champion and a Grand Slam finalist Guillermo has not played since Poznan Challenger in June and he has made the best possible return, conquering Romania F9 Futures on his beloved clay for the ninth ITF Futures title and the first since 2016, also the first outside South America.
The 26-year-old has made his ATP debut in Lyon in May as a qualifier, edging Nicolas Kicker 4-6 6-1 7-5 for the maiden ATP win before losing to Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round. His Challenger career has been much more effective so far, winning 34 matches but never reaching the final.
Futures have been his familiar territory since the start of pro career, reaching 20 finals and playing more than 400 matches, moving closer to 300 wins after this success in Romania. Federico never faced a serious challenge in five matches, winning all 10 sets and beating the 4th seed Cristian Rodriguez 7-5 6-2 in an hour and 20 minutes.
The Argentinian served at 85% and that gave him a clear advantage over 58% of the Colombian, losing just 14 points in his games and getting broken only once. Rodriguez needed much more than that in order to stay in touch, struggling on both the first and second serve and getting broken four times from five chances he gave to Coria.
They traded breaks in games three and four, with Federico saving two break points in game six to stay on the positive side of the scoreboard. They both served well until game 11 when Coria broke at 15 and he sealed the deal with a hold at love in the next game for a 7-5.
Cristian gave his serve away in the third game of the second set as well and he sealed his fate after another poor service games at 2-4, allowing Coria to increase the lead and cross the finish line with a hold in game eight, making the best possible return after a suspension and hoping for more of the same in the weeks to come.
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