POZOBLANCO, July 19, 2021
The ATP Challenger Tour has returned to Spain for a two-week hard-court swing in Pozoblanco and Segovia. First up is the Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco offering a total prize money of €44,820 and being held at the C.D. Open de Tenis Ciudad de Pozoblanco this week. The town of Pozoblanco with about 20,000 inhabitants is situated in the province of Cordoba in the north-central part of the autonomous community of Andalusia.
The tournament is back on the circuit after having lost its spot on the ATP Challenger calendar a few years ago due to the economic crisis. The event was played from 1999 to 2012. Current World No. 16 Roberto Bautista Agut was the tournament’s last champion defeating Arnau Brugues-Davi in an all-Spanish final in straight sets.
🎾 ¡Primer día de tenis en Pozoblanco!
Hoy hemos vivido en la primera jornada del Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco ‘Covap’ – Memorial Fabián Dorado con unos interesantísimos partidos de la fase previa. #ATPChallenger#TenisPozoblanco pic.twitter.com/gKdkfP87Ro
— Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco (@PozoblancoOpen) July 18, 2021
Four qualifiers completed the main draw on Monday. Mathias Bourgue of France eased past local favourite Sergio Martos Gornes 6-2, 6-1 and will face his compatriot and No. 5 seed Maxime Janvier in the first round.
Michael Geerts from Belgium defeated Diego Hidalgo of Ecuador 7-6(4), 6-3 to start his main draw campaign against Kaichi Uchida from Japan. Frenchman Matteo Martineau edged out Federico Zeballos from Bolivia 6-2, 6-3 and will play Russian veteran Teymuraz Gabashvili next.
In the longest match of the qualifying final round, US-American Emilio Nava battled past 18-year-old Spanish wild card entry Inaki Montes-De La Torre 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 7-5. The encounter lasted two hours and 39 minutes. Nava will challenge No. 7 seed Yannick Maden of Germany in the opening round of the main draw.
The field in Pozoblanco is led by two Frenchmen: World No. 108 Benjamin Bonzi, who will begin his title bid against Aziz Dougaz of Tunisia and Gregoire Barrere, who will face alternate Rayane Roumane of France in the first round.
