Bagnis will clash with Frenchman Moutet in the second round. Photo EFE / EPA / YOAN VALAT
Facundo Bagnis prevailed in a one hundred percent Argentine duel and entered the second round of the ATP 250 from Umag. The Santa Fe native, 120th in the standings, won 7-5 and 6-3 against Thomas Etcheverry, 72nd and one of the representatives of the blue-white Next Gen, in almost two hours of play. Thus, he cut a personal streak that had already lasted more than four months.
It is that the one born in Armstrong – but Rosario by adoption – had not won a match in the main draw of an ATP tournament since the end of March, when he won at the debut of the Masters of Indian Wells 1000 to the Swiss Henri Laaksonenthen greeted in the second instance against the South African Lloyd Harris.
After that race, he slips along with falls in the early rounds of You love me, Geneva (where he started acting), Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Yes, he could win challenger-tour, in which he was champion in Pereira, in early April, and semi-finalist in Oeiras in June and in Salzburg in early July. In recent weeks he had played, without overcoming them, the previous stages of enough Y gstaad.
Bagnis hadn’t won a match on an ATP main draw since March. Photo Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
He entered Umag directly at the last minute, after the Serb fell Filip Krajinovic and began his journey on the main draw at a steady pace, with a solid win against Etcheverry, who is enjoying his best season on the most important circuit in men’s tennis.
Bagnis’ next rival will be the French Corentin Moutetdal qualy, which surprised the German Daniel Altmayer, sixth seed, 6-4, 6-2. It will be the first duel between the two.
On the other hand, he could not beat the Slovak Federico Delbonis, 123rd in the standings Norberto Gombos (117th and who participated in the tournament as “lucky losers” instead of Czech Jiri Vesely), who beat him 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Delbonis lost to Gombos, who came in as a lucky underdog. Photo Peter Schneider / Keystone via AP
The Azuleño joined in this way Pedro Cachin90th, who had said goodbye to the match in the first round, falling 3-6, 6-1 and 6-4 on Monday against the Italian Giulio Zepperi168th and emerged from the rankings.
The only Argentine who has not yet debuted on Croatian brick dust is Sebastián Báez, one of the best exponents of the new generation of national tennis players, champion this year in Estoril and finalist in enoughwhere he lost the title against Francisco Cerúndolo.
The porteño, 32nd in the world, went out in the first round, being the fourth favorite, and will start in the second round (Thursday) against the winner of the duel between the Serbs Laslo Djere (77 °) and Franco Agamemnon (136th), born in Río Cuarto, Córdoba, but who represents Italy.
Source: Clarin
