“Little” Schwartzman (17) was far from his best version and was surpassed by the youngest of the Ymer brothers, Mikael (98), who beat him 6-2, 6-2 after one hour and 36 minutes of play. .
It is known that Davis often brings surprises and this occurred first in Báez’s match, who played too nervous and stressed, that made him miss more than necessary and he paid for it with defeat, the eighth consecutive since losing the final of Bastad, in Sweden, with his compatriot Francisco Cerúndolo.
The Argentine, champion this year at the Portuguese ATP in Estoril, started the match uncomfortable, on a surface that did not favor his most suitable game for clay, and that was used by the Swede to achieve a break that allowed him to go ahead 2 -1 and keep the advantage until the final 6-3 in 46 minutes.
In the second set, the 21-year-old Argentine reacted when he sought and found more variants, thus putting Ymer on the defensive and managing to overwhelm him despite the fact that at times he wanted to close the points quickly and abused drop shots.
Burst
The first explosion of the Argentines in the stadium occurred when Báez played a short return that allowed him to break Ymer for the first time to go ahead 3-1 and that gave him the confidence he needed, thus taking the set by 6- 4 and left things as they were at the beginning.
In the third and final set, the two began nervously and there were several breaks, although it was Ymer who took the lead 3-1 against a too erratic Báez.
Báez saved two match points with the Swede on serve and then two more with his own, until he forced the tie break but there he was clearly surpassed by Ymer, who took the first point of the series for his country.
The “Little One” immediately went into action with the mission of leveling the series, but he was very far from achieving it and never gave the feeling of being able to bother the Swede, an enthusiastic Challengers tournament player. Mikael Ymer, supported by a very precise forehand, went ahead 4-2 with a break that filled the series with shadows, and then attacked the Argentine on his backhand and took the opening set 6-2 with overwhelming dominance at times.
The closing of the first quarter came with a parallel forehand from the Swede that perplexed Schwartzman and was applauded even by that handful of Argentine fans who came to encourage the team.
doubles relief
In the second quarter, the “Little One” tried to neutralize the Swedish game, but he made too many mistakes with his forehand, he did not return well and he also played very short, which made it easier for his rival to hit.
The Swede always took the initiative and it was not surprising that he also took the second set 6-2 against a tennis player like Schwartzman who gave himself little by little and confirmed that playing the Davis Cup costs him a lot, in fact his record is negative with seven wins against eight losses.
Then came a joy with the victory in doubles, which should not be detracted from, beyond its little implication in this debut series, because it could be decisive in qualifying for the quarterfinals, which will be defined over the weekend.
Although Sweden was presented in the previous as the most accessible rival in the area, the Ymer brothers usually “get bigger” when they play Davis -as they showed this Tuesday- and the surface suits them better. And although they had adapted well to the field and the conditions of the venue, they could not assert favoritism and suffered a defeat that could cost them dearly, thinking about the chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals.
Group A will continue today with the match between the host Italy, with tennis players of the category of Jannik Sinner (11), Matteo Berrettini (15), Lorenzo Musetti (30), Fabio Fognini (55) and an important doubles player like Simone Bolelli ( 23 in the couples ranking), against Croatia.
The Balkans, without Marin Cilic (16), who dropped out at the last minute, will bet on Borna Coric (26), champion last month at the Cincinnati Masters 1000, plus an excellent doubles pair like Mate Pavic (9) and Nikola Mektic (10), while the formation is completed by Borna Gojo (164).
The outlook for Argentina is complicated, they will need a true miracle to qualify for the quarterfinals to be held in Malaga in November, since they will have to beat Italy on Friday and Croatia on Saturday, something highly unlikely.
Source: Ambito
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