Spanish tennis players Barnabas Zapata and Albert bouquets their commitments to the first round of the Open of expired this Wednesday Rio de Janeiro and advanced to the round of 16 where the Argentine was left behind Diego Schwartzman2018 champion and was eliminated in his debut.
Zapata, number 63 in the ATP international ranking, defeated his compatriot 6-3, 7-5 Jaume Munar while Ramos beat the Argentine Thomas Etcheverry by 5-7, 6-4 and 6-4.
Zapata will face the Argentine in the round of 16 Francisco Cerundolo33 in the ATP ranking, eliminating Spaniard Roberto Carballés in the first round, while Ramos will have the Colombian as a rival. Daniel Elahi Galan who advanced after Argentine Pedro Cachín was eliminated.
In his debut this year in Rio, Munar opened up a 3-0 lead just 15 minutes into the first set but Zapata reacted and broke the next three serves of his compatriot and confirmed himself to win the first tight set of 6. – 3 in 51 minutes.
In the second set, the 25-year-old tennis player from Santañy took the lead again and opened a 2-0 lead, but the Valencian reacted and tied at 2-2. Munar regained the lead through the break (5-3) but Zapata tied again (5-5) and also won the second set (7-5) after winning the last two games.
Ramos had to return against Etcheverry in a 3 hour and 24 minute game that started on Tuesday, was suspended due to rain and ended on Wednesday.
The Argentine, who won the first set 7-5 on Tuesday and lost the second set 3-4, was able to tie it to resume the match on Wednesday (4-4), but the Spaniard made the most of the break, winning the second round 6-4 and forced a third, evenly matched but which he also won 6-4 after Etcheverry’s last serve was broken.
One who did not find his best game again was Schwartzman (38 ATP), who was the fifth favorite in Rio de Janeiro and was eliminated in a resounding 6-1 and 6-4 by Serbian Dusan Lajovic (80 ATP) in a match 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Lajovic, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires last week by Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (tournament champion), will have to face his compatriot Laslo Djere (57 ATP), the champion in the round of 16 in Rio in Brazil in 2019 and advanced to the round of 16 thanks to the abandonment of Argentine Facundo Bagnis.
Schwartzman, who was also knocked out early at the Argentina Open last week, continues to struggle with just one win in his last 11 matches.
“El Peque” almost broke the Serb’s second serve in the first set after opening a slight 0-40 lead, which he eventually squandered.
Lajovic took advantage of the Argentine’s break, breaking the second serve, opening a 3-1 lead in less than 20 minutes, and he extended it to 5-1 after a new break in 30 minutes.
The European only needed to confirm his fourth serve to take the set with an unassailable 6-1 in 32 minutes.
The second set was a bit more even, at least until 4-4, when the European finally managed to break her rival’s serve again and open 5-4, after which she confirmed her serve would prevail in the set by 6 -4 and in the 2-0 match in one hour and 27 minutes.
The ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, which takes place on the clay courts of the Brazilian Jockey Club and distributes prizes of 2.2 million dollars, is part of the clay tour in South America, which began with the Córdoba Open and the Argentina Open, and will end in next week at the ATP 250 in Santiago (Chile).
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
