Elias wins Futures event

Barristone brothers fall in doubles final

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Gastao Elias said he’s used to playing in the wind, and Sunday he showed his prowess in tough conditions to upset fifth-seeded American Alberto Francis 7-5, 6-4 in the singles final at The Champion Porsche $10,000 Futures of Boca Raton Tournament at Patch Reef Park.

In each set, Elias rallied from 3-2 deficits to claim victory.

He broke Francis when the American double faulted at 3-3 in the first set, then Elias hit a running forehand winner to break Francis in the seventh game of the second set.

“I think the main thing was I adapted to the wind a lot better than he did,” Elias said. “I think he missed a lot of shots because of the wind. In Portugal, there’s a lot of wind there and I think I’m a little more used to the wind.”

The gusts were hard enough to clearly affect some of the shots, as Francis sprayed his forehand erratically throughout the match.

“It was not sideways, but it was from one side to the other,” Elias said. “It was tough to play on both sides because you had the wind against you, and the other side you could not hit as hard as normal.”

Francis, a native Texan who now resides in California said, “Mentally, I just gave it away a little bit I thought. He doesn’t really miss too many balls, doesn’t hurt you too much. So you’ve got to beat him. I made too many errors.”

It was the second win in two months on the USTA Pro Circuit for Elias, who said he had a feeling before the tournament that this would be his time.

“The day before I told my coach, ‘I feel like I can win this tournament, I don’t know why,’” he said. “I just like these courts.”
It was Elias’ first time on the Patch Reef court, and he had to defeat top seeded Ilija Bozoljac from Serbia just to advance to the third round. He then dispatched American Adam El Mihdawy and Canadian Milan Pokrajac 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Saturday on his way to the final.

In the doubles final, another pair of Americans went down to defeat, as brothers Brian and Dann Battistone fell 5-7, 4-6 to Uladzimir Ignatik and Andrey Kumantsov.