Córdoba Open: quick farewell for Schwartzman, while the Cerúndolo brothers advance and dream

The heat wave that has been affecting much of Argentina for several days has become an extra challenge for the players of the Cordoba open. The tournament that opens the South American brick dust tour closes the round of 16 this Thursday on a day with clear skies and high temperatures: the maximum recorded was 34 degrees, but with a much higher thermal sensation on the track.

Apart from the fact that it was already without the sun as protagonist, the closure of the day on Thursday provided for the presentation and the quick greeting of diego schwartzmannfirst seed and 28th in the world rankings, eliminated in an albiceleste duel by Juan Manuel Cerundolo (114th), with partials of 7-6(6) and 6-1.

As soon as the match ended on the night in Cordoba, the ‘Piccolo’ quickly left central field, shyly greeting those present and going to look for answers with his team, to think about a recovery that will allow him to have a better version next week in the Buenos Aires ATP.

Previously, the eldest of Cerundolo, Francis (31°), left towards Federico Delbonis (131) with an epic comeback in the last set and prevailing with partial scores of 6-3, 3-6 and 7-5.

Cerúndolo lost 2-5 in the third quarter, but with five consecutive victories he dealt a heavy blow to the illusion of Azuleño, champion of the Davis Cup in 2016. Francisco, starting next week, will be the Argentine number 1 in the ranking for the first time in his career.

Frederick Coria He was one of those who had to face the siesta sun. Rosarino, sixth favourite, took to the field around 2.30 pm to face the blue Mark Cecchino. But he was lucky to quickly seal the victory: the European retired in the second set when he was down 6-3 and 3-1, due to a right shoulder problem, which had forced him to seek medical attention after the seventh game .from the opening chapter.

Similarly, the man from Santa Fe, 67th in the world, assured that he hadn’t suffered so much from the heat. “The truth is that today I felt cooler than Tuesday, which was crazy. I think it was 38 degrees that day and inside the pitch, forget it…”, he commented. “I felt confident with the serve and I think I deserved it for him to make the decision to retire.”

Coria returned to the quarterfinals in a tournament for the first time since May last year (in lions) and in this case will face the winner of the duel between Francis Cerundolo AND Federico Delbonis.

“The expectation is to reach the final. I’m focused on winning an ATP. The quarterfinals will be a very careful match. I’ll have to raise the level, because we’re already in a moment where any doubt or decline goes away to pay dearly. I have to arrive in the best possible way,” he assured.

Guido Pelle AND Hugo Dellien They also had to endure the high temperatures in the match played in the second round on the central field. The Bahian, who entered the draw thanks to a wild card and had just won his first match since October 2021 (he was sidelined with a knee injury), failed to beat the Bolivian, who won 6-3 and 6-4, in one hour and 29 minutes, and entered the top eight.

Dellien, from the qualy and winner of Pedro Cachin (5th seed) in his debut, he acknowledged he has the edge when it comes to dealing with the heat.

“I honestly don’t feel it much because I’m from Trinidad, Bolivia where the heat is similar to the heat here, but with much more humidity. However, I hydrate a lot and try to take care of myself with my diet, because if you miss a little, you’ll make a lot of it over there during matches. For now I’m fine,” said the 138th classified, who will go to the semifinals against another Argentine.

In other duels of the day, also played very early, the Portuguese João Sousa beat the Chilean Christian Garin of 7-5 and 7-6 (8-6) and the Spaniards Alberto Ramos Vinolasthird favorite and defending champion, he beat the Serbian 6-4, 2-6 and 6-2 Dusan Lajovic.

Sebastian Baezseeded fourth, sealed qualification for the quarterfinals on Wednesday night, beating the Italian (born in Villa Gesell) 6-3, 6-4 Luciano Darderi, coming from the qualy. The boy from Buenos Aires, who ended a series of six consecutive defeats (he had obtained his last victory in October, in Naples), will now face the Chilean Tomas Barrios Vera212th in the standings.

Thus, this Friday’s games from 12:30 for the quarter-finals on the center court will be Sousa-Ramos Vinolas; Coria-Francisco Cerundolo, Sebastián Baez (47)-Tomas Barrios Vera (212) from Chile; and at closing they will be measured Dellien in view of Juan Manuel Cerundolo.