BUENOS AIRES/WASHINGTON, March 8, 2021 (by Michael Dickens)
Diego Schwartzman became the first Argentine champion of the Argentina Open in 13 years after winning his fourth career ATP Tour title Sunday afternoon in Buenos Aires.
The World No. 9 from Buenos Aires easily beat fellow Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, 6-1, 6-2. It was Schwartzman’s first title won in Argentina.
Just look at what it means to him!
At long last, @dieschwartzman is an @ArgentinaOpen champion 👏
🎥: @TennisTV | #ArgOpen2021pic.twitter.com/VvNoTdCygo
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 7, 2021
“I’m very, very happy; it’s been an amazing week for me,” Schwartzman said while accepting his trophy. “It’s the first time [I have won at] home. Two years ago, I reached the final here and lost. … I was very unhappy, but two years later I have my revenge against Francisco, who is a great player.”
The 137th-ranked Cerundolo, whose younger brother Juan Manuel lifted the Cordoba Open trophy a week ago, qualified for the main draw and made a valiant run at this week’s title. He hoped to join a select group of tennis-playing brothers like John and Patrick McEnroe, Emilio and Javier Sanchez, Alexander and Mischa Zverev’s, who each have won titles.
Instead, Schwartzman broke Cerundolo six times – taking advantage early breaks of service in both sets – plus his opponent was playing in his fifth three-set match going back to the qualifying draw. Schwartzman outpointed his opponent 64-45 over the course of the one hour and 21-minute match on red clay to secure the title victory.
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Brkic and Cacic win doubles title
Tomislav Brkic of Bosnia and Nikola Cacic from Serbia won the Argentina Open doubles title with their 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 4 seeds Ariel Behur of Uruguay and Gonzalo Escobar from Ecuador.
The last team standing in Buenos Aires 🙌
🇧🇦 Tomislav Brkic & Nikola Cacic 🇷🇸 defeat Behar & Escobar 6-3, 7-5 to win the #ArgOpen2021 doubles crown 🏆 pic.twitter.com/hhzA5uR6VT
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 7, 2021
News & noteworthy
• By winning, Diego Schwartzman became the first Argentine champion in Buenos Aires since 2008, when David Nalbandian won in another all-Argentine final against Jose Acasuso.
Diego Schwartzman 🇦🇷 es el 6️⃣to campeón del #ArgentinaOpen 🏆 que se consagra sin ceder ningún set a lo largo del torneo 💪🏻
Se suma a:
✅ D. Ferrer (2014)
✅ R. Nadal (2015)
✅ A. Dolgopolov (2017)
✅ D. Thiem (2018)
✅ M. Cecchinato (2019)¡Tremendo, peque! @dieschwartzman 😉 pic.twitter.com/akmYvWq7Wv
— Argentina Open (@ArgentinaOpen) March 7, 2021
What they’re saying
Diego Schwartzman on Francisco Cerundulo: “He had a spectacular week. I’ve been following him since he qualified and we’ve had great conversations and talked about his matches. I also know his whole family. They were there at the same club where I started playing tennis before [Francisco] was born. … This was his week, last week was Juan Manuel’s week.”
