BRAGA, May 8, 2019
The first five players advanced to the third round of the 2019 Braga Open held on clay courts at the Clube Tenis Braga in Portugal. Carlos Taberner knocked out the No. 4 seed of the €46,600 ATP Challenger, Arthur de Greef from Belgium, winning 7-6(4), 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon.
The 21-year-old Spaniard capitalized on four of his six break point chances to prevail after one hour and 38 minutes. Taberner will next take on Zdenek Kolar from the Czech Republic, who fought past Pedro Cachín of Argentina 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
No. 10 seed Norbert Gombos remained untroubled in his 6-1, 6-3 win over 17-year-old wild card entry Chung Hsin Tseng from Chinese Taipei to meet eighth favourite Emilio Gomez from Ecuador. The Guayaquil native emerged victorious from the all-South American affair with Martin Cuevas from Uruguay, winning 6-3, 7-5.
Dominik Köpfer beat Vit Kopriva from the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2. The No. 6 seed from Germany won 57 per cent of the total points played to advance in one hour and 15 minutes. Up next for Köpfer will be either Blaz Rola from Slovenia or Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
Ferreira Silva sets Fratangelo clash
Frederico Ferreira Silva opened his home campaign with a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 win over fellow Portuguese Daniel Batista. The World No. 334 from Caldas da Rainha saved the only break point he faced, converting five of his own six chances to finish the encounter in just 51 minutes.
“First rounds are never easy. I haven’t played so many matches in recent times but I am happy with the outcome,” Ferreira Silva said. The 24-year-old will next challenge top seeded US-American Bjorn Fratangelo.
“I do not know him very well but looking at his ranking (World No. 140) it certainly will not be an easy match. I still have no rhythm yet and I will have to do my best to try and win.”
Orlando Luz from Brazil experienced a stressful journey to Braga. Yet, the 21-year-old managed to win his opening match, rallying past Gastao Elias of Portugal 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 in one hour and 38 minutes.
Orlando Luz played in Tabarka on Sunday, spent 3 hours on a bus, the flight from Tunes to Madrid was delayed, then changed to Barcelona. He had dinner at the airport, slept 3 hours, flew to Madrid and touched down in Porto at 7am. https://t.co/utyyGY41KE
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) 7. Mai 2019
Two-week Challenger swing in Portugal
In 2017, Portugal returned to the ATP Challenger Tour for the first time in five years, with the European nation’s capital of Lisbon hosting a clay-court event. Last year, the country has welcomed a second tournament, with the inaugural Braga Open. The two-week swing immediately follows the Millennium Estoril Open, an ATP World Tour 250 event, creating a month of world-class tennis in Portugal.
