The “Little” Schwartzmann, ranked 15th in the ATP world ranking, ratified his favoritism and eliminated Munar (90) after two hours and 23 minutes before some 3,500 people who watched the match on the central court of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo.
The champion of the 2021 edition and second favorite behind the Norwegian “top ten” Casper Ruud (8), will try to take another step tomorrow in the quarterfinals against “Fran” Cerúndolo, which guarantees the presence of an Argentine in Saturday’s semifinals.
Schwartzmann, who was not preceded by good results in the tour of Australia and in the Córdoba Open, where he lost in the semifinals against the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, began the match with doubts, since it took him a while to get the hang of Munar’s strategy.
The Argentine won his comfortable serve games but he could not find the right point in the return against a rival whom he beat the four times they met, the previous ones at the US Open in 2018, the ATP in Córdoba in 2020 and last year in the quarterfinals of Buenos Aires.
Schwartzman managed to impose his return only when he broke to go ahead 4-3, then stretched to 5-3 and when he was about to close, he gave up his serve, which took the definition to a tie break.
In the quick definition “Peque” did not hesitate and played with great depth, warned that Munar was dangerous and that is why he took it very easily 7-2.
In the second quarter, the Spaniard born in Mallorca took a 2-0 lead and forced Schwartzman to raise his level to straighten out the game.
The “Peque” opted for well angled and deep shots, and also adjusted his service to avoid being surprised by Munar, that brought him balance and then went to the front until he had two match points with the score 5-4 that he could not take advantage of.
The Spaniard was growing in the defensive part and that took the set to a tie break that Schwartzmann he won 7-4 suffering from the great resistance that his rival opposed.
The “Little” will continue the defense of his title this Friday against closing it, whom he beat last year in the final by a comfortable 6-1 and 6-2.
Cerúndolo (107) was installed among the top eight in the contest after previously prevailing over the Serbian Myomir Kecmanovic (64) by 6-3, 3-6 and 6-2in exactly two hours of play.
The Argentine, 23 years old and winner last Monday in the initial round of Facundo Bagnis from Santa Fe (76), left the Serbian behind Kecmanović, trained by former tennis player from Cordoba David Nalbandian, with pure power and because he knew how to react in time after losing the second set.
In this context, “Fran” showed all the power of his forehand and the depth of his shots in the opening set when he dominated the Balkan, broke him to take a 5-3 lead and then closed with his serve 6-3.
In the second set, the Serb chose to play long points and that paid off, as Cerúndolo was impatient, rushed to cut the game short and missed too long to fall 6-3.
The Argentine, champion this year in the Challenger of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia, reacted after giving up his service at the beginning of the third set, when he opted to move the Serbian and attack him until he found cracks, thus building a victory by a clear 6-2 after having broken his rival’s serve twice.
The other Argentine who came out on top on Thursday’s big day was Delbonis, from Azul, who beat Spaniard Pablo Andújar (73) 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes.
The 33-year-old Argentine, who is completing his twelfth consecutive participation in the Buenos Aires ATP, will face the Italian Fabio Fognini (40) in the quarterfinals tomorrow, who had previously eliminated the Spanish Pedro Martínez (61) 6-4 and 7- 6 (7-5).
Delbonis, who had beaten Juan Martín Del Potro in the opening round (753), in a match in which he felt like a visitor in his own country with the entire public leaning in favor of the man from Tandil, was very solid against a rival like Andújar who he beat three times and had lost seven times.
The tennis player from Azul, hero of the Davis Cup that Argentina conquered on November 27, 2016 in Zagreb, began the match with an inning break, then confirmed with his serve and that allowed him to let go and hit well forehand and backhand to take the partial by 6-4 in 42 minutes.
In the second set, Andújar, who had beaten Juan Ignacio Londero from Córdoba in the opening round (130), raised his level and forced Delbonis to make a greater effort.
In any case, the Argentine remained very firm with his serve (he did not give it up throughout the match) and played deeper shots that allowed him to get a break to go ahead 5-4 and then close the set 6-4 and settle between the eight best of the tournament, with the illusion of repeating the semifinals of 2018, which was his best performance in Buenos Aires.
The Buenos Aires ATP will enter the final stretch tomorrow with four Argentines, since Federico Coria joins “Peque”, Cerúndolo and Delbonis, who had achieved his pass yesterday after beating Serbian Dusan Lajovic (37).
In addition, there was the peculiarity that the four seeds exempted from the initial round are among the best eight: Ruud (8), Schwartzman (15) Lorenzo Sonego (22) and Fognini (40).
The quarterfinal matches this Friday will be as follows: Ruud (8) vs. Coria (65); Delbonis (42)vs. Fognini (40); Sonego (22) vs. Verdasco (201) and Schwartzman (15) vs. Cerúndolo (107).
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
