The Argentinian Facundo Díaz Acosta, in the best moment of his career after having won the Argentina Open last Sunday, He defeated the Swiss Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round of the ATP 500 tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro. In a day that was delayed three hours due to rain and in which his compatriot Sebastián Báez also won, Pedro Cachín from Cordoba lost and where Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz retired injured.
Diaz Acosta, who rose to 59th place in the ATP world ranking after his consecration in Buenos Aires, defeated the Swiss Wawrinka (67), who at his peak was “top ten” and won the Australian Open in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015 and the US Open in 2016, after 1 hour and 55 minutes of play.
Diaz Acosta, 23 years old, will play his next match in the round of 16 against the Buenos Aires native Sebastián Báez (30), who beat the Frenchman Corentin Moutet (147) by 6-4 and 6-3, in 1 hour and 38 minutes.
For his part, the Cordoban Pedro Cachín (76) fell against Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves (153) by 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3, after 1 hour and 57 minutes of confrontation.
While Mariano Navone (113) beat his compatriot Federico Coria (85) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Navone will face the German Yannick Hanfmann (56) in the round of 16, who defeated the Chilean Nicolás Jarry (19), finalist on Sunday at the Argentina Open, in three sets (6-1, 1-6, 7-5).
Another Argentine tennis player, the porteño FRancisco Cerúndolo (22), moved into the round of 16 after beating his compatriot Francisco Comesaña (119) 6-1, 1-6 and 6-2.
“Fran” Cerúndolo’s next rival will be the Catalan Albert Ramos (96), who the day before beat the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (108) by 3-6, 6-3 and 7-5.
Alcaraz retired
The abandonment due to injury of the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, number two in the world ranking, took the shine off the ATP 500 Open in Rio de Janeiro.
Favorite for the title, which he won in 2022, The Spaniard withdrew in the first round due to a sprained ankle right, suffered in the dispute of the second point of the duel against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (117).
The 20-year-old man from Murcia was treated for ten minutes in his seat on the center court of the Jockey Club. His foot was bandaged and stabilized, after which he returned to action on the clay, not hiding a slight limp.
In a sign of his quality, he broke Monteiro’s serve and won the first game. But the Brazilian left-hander tied in the next one (1-1), when Alcaraz chose to put an end to his fourth participation in the Rio event.
“I spoke with the physiotherapist on the field and we decided, together, that I would continue to see if it improved. It didn’t, so we preferred to be careful and retire as a precaution,” he said at a press conference.
Second best racket in Brazil, Monteiro, 29, advanced to the round of 16, where he will face his compatriot Felipe Meligeni (153), who comes from the qualifiers.
The abandonment increases concern for Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil at the beginning of 2024: he fell in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and in the semifinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires on Saturday, accumulating seven months without winning a title. And he arrives at times when the Italian Jannik Sinner, champion in Australia, He is approaching second place in the ATP world rankings.
Apart from the postponed matches, including the first round clash between two promises, the Frenchman Arthur Fils (No.7) and the Brazilian Joao Fonseca (655), the round of 16 will open today.
The duels stand out between the defending champion, the British Cameron Norrie (No.2), against the Chilean Tomás Barrios (120), and the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo (No.4) against the Spanish Albert Ramos (96).
The Rio de Janeiro competition takes place on clay courts and will distribute a total of US$2,100,230 in prizes.
Tuesday’s results
Thiago Monteiro (BRA) defeated Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/N.1) 1-1 and retirement
Felipe Meligeni (BRA) to Pedro Cachín (ARG) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Facundo Díaz (ARG) defeats Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 7-5, 6-4
Sebastián Báez (ARG/N.5) beats Corentin Moutet (FRA) 6-4, 6-3
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) to Daniel Galán (COL) 4-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-1
Yannick Hanfmann (GER) beats Nicolás Jarry (CHI/N.3) 6-1, 1-6, 7-5
Christian Garín (CHI) to Roberto Carballés (ESP) 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3
Mariano Navone (ARG) defeats Federico Coria (ARG) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Source: Ambito
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