SANTIAGO/STARNBERG, October 5, 2021
The South American clay-court swing on the ATP Challenger Tour continues this week with the $52,080 Dove Men & Care Legión Sudamericana Challenger Santiago 2 hosted by the Club Deportivo Palestino in Santiago de Chile.
Main draw action kicked off on Monday when No. 3 seed Juan Pablo Varillas opened his title bid with a 7-6(8), 7-6(7) win over Hernan Casanova from Argentina. The World No. 127 from Peru struck eight aces and won 87 per cent of his first-service points to secure victory in two hours and 35 minutes. Up next for Varillas will be either Chilean wild card entry Victor Nunez or Julian Lenz from Germany.
Argentine Sebastian Baez, who captured his second ATP Challenger career title in Santiago in March, made a successful return to Chile’s capital city. The No. 5 seed defeated Czech teenager Dalibor Svrcina 6-2, 7-5 after one hour and 19 minutes. Baez will next play US-American alternate Nick Cappell, who fought past local wild card entry Diego Fernandez Flores 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 after two hours and 12 minutes.
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In other action, Facundo Mena had to go the distance to overcome Roberto Cid Subervi from the Dominican Republic 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5. The 29-year-old Argentine won six points more than his rival to prevail after almost three hours of play. Mena awaits the winner of the encounter between top seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina and his compatriot Nicolas Kicker.
