In 2015, Feliciano Lopez, the top seed, faced eighth-seeded Victor Estrella Burgos in the final of the inaugural event.

Three years ago, a new tournament worked its way onto the ATP calendar, the Ecuador Open in Quito. Lopez entered the event as the top seed. The Spaniard was coming off a fourth-round showing at the Australian Open.

In Quito, Lopez—usually at his best on faster surfaces—reached his first clay-court final in three years. Waiting for him in the championship match would be an unlikely finalist, Victor Estrella Burgos. A veteran of the tour, the Dominican had broken into the top 100 primarily on his results in ATP Challengers and ITF Futures. This would be the first final of the 34-year-old's career.

The Final

Lopez, playing in his 12th career singles final, was a heavy favorite. However, Estrella Burgos—playing with unexpected poise—dominated the opening set, 6-2.

The two stayed even throughout the bulk of the second set, but at 5-5, Estrella Burgos earned a break point on Lopez’s serve. The Spaniard, still in attack mode, staved it off, and the set went into a tiebreak. Lopez won it 7-5 to level the match.

In the third, Estrella Burgos went up a break early, before Lopez rallied to tie things up. Serving at 5-6, Lopez held in a close game and the set went to a tiebreak to determine the champion. Serving at 6-5, Estrella Burgos won when Lopez’s forehand went long, giving the Dominican his first ATP World Tour title.

1

Aside from being the first Dominican male to win a title, Estrella Burgos became the first to ever reach a final after defeating Bellucci in the semis.

3

This was the third year in a row Estrella Burgos won a tournament in Ecuador: In 2013, he captured the ATP Challenger in Quito and in 2014, won another ATP Challenger in Salinas.

7

Out of the eight seeded players at the tournament, seven of them reached at least the quarterfinals, with No. 2-seeded Santiago Giraldo being the exception.

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Return Winners: The 2015 Ecuador Open final

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