ATP Córdoba: Bagnis surpasses Vilas’s record and will play the final with Darderi, the Argentine Italian living a dream

The ATP 250 in Córdoba will be the stage for the crowning of a new champion in the great men’s tennis circuit. Facundo Bagnis beat 6-3 and 7-5 against Federico Coria and will face the final Luciano Darderi, who left the reigning champion on the street, Sebastiano Baez, 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3. It will be played starting at 7pm on the central court of the Mario Alberto Kempes Sports Center, with Fox Sports 2 and Star + on television.

Córdoba’s day opened with the match between Bagnis and Coria, which was sold as good news to the local public because, regardless of the result, it ensured an Argentine in the final. These were two players not used to reaching these levels: for Facu it was only the third semi-final of his career and the fifth for Fede, aged 33 and 31 respectively.

In the end, Armstrong’s Rosario man prevailed by fighting, his trademark. He won in straight sets, but had to fight for an hour and 57 minutes to achieve a hard-fought victory.

“I have done many things well and this makes me happy; I think it would have been a great match if it had ended there at 6-3 and 5-4. “Fede had the merit of not succeeding and, obviously, it also creates a bit of tension, but I’m happy with my level and the opponent I defeated because Fede was playing excellent tennis,” he said at the press conference.

At 33 years and 11 months Bagnis marked a fundamental stage in the history of Argentine tennis: He is the oldest player to reach an ATP final, surpassing a legend like Guillermo Vilas, who was a finalist at Forest Hills 1986 (lost 7-6 and 6-0 to Yannick Noah) at 33 years and 8 months. This was the last of Vilas’ 102 finishes on the tour, with a record of 62 wins and 40 losses.

The man from Santa Fe, meanwhile, reaches this stage for the second time in his career and will be looking for his first title after taking second place at Santiago de Chile 2021, when he lost to local Christian Garín. Now you will have a new opportunity to satisfy your pending account.

On the other side there will be Luciano Darderi, born in Villa Gesell who represents Italy and who will play his first final. The 136th in the world ranking, the big surprise of the tournament, dealt a new blow by beating Sebastián Báez (26th). He started with the lights on, dominating with his powerful baseline shot and immediately found himself ahead against an unrecognizable Báez.

Then the Argentine started to look more like himself and imposed his hierarchy, but Darderi didn’t give up and ended up getting the most important victory of his career. “In the second set he came out more aggressive and I couldn’t play as much, but luckily I managed to maintain my level and in the third I was more decisive,” he said in the court note.

“It was difficult playing with the fans against us, but I managed to tolerate it well and I did it,” he added later.

This Sunday, starting at 7pm, Bagnis-Darderi, two who come from quallyto mark a new name among the champions of men’s tennis.