AP22175730009561

Tennis is a game of strategies, right?

One tactic—or happy accident, you make the call—that has caught the attention of many online Friday might take the cake.

At the Tenerife Challenger 2, a semifinal doubles match pitted No. 2 seeds Marco Bortolotti and Sergio Martos Gornes against Matteo Gigante and Francesco Passaro. The unseeded duo served for the contest in the second set, and after missing their first match point at 40-30, faced an important situation. Win now, or see their opponents break for 5-5.

Advertising

On a second serve no less, the left-handed Gigante nailed a target to clinch the match. Except it wasn’t a corner on the ad side—it was a direct hit on Martos Gornes, who stood north of the service line in the deuce court.

The best reaction in the moment might just go to Bortolotti. Upon seeing his partner get pegged, the 32-year-old dropped his racquet and began walking away, refusing to look at any of the other three.

With victory in hand, Gigante and Passaro assured themselves of going one step further than their effort two weeks earlier in Tenerife. Christian Harrison and Shintaro Mochizuki, be on the look out in the final. These Italians don’t serve up meatballs!