BUENOS AIRES/STARNBERG, October 23, 2021
Thiago Monteiro and Francisco Cerundolo will meet in a semi-final clash Saturday at the $52,080 DOVE MEN+CARE Challenger Circuit Buenos Aires.
Top seed Monteiro booked his spot in the stage of the final four following a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over eighth-seeded Argentine Tomas Etcheverry on a rain-affected Friday at the Racket Club in Argentina’s capital city. The World No. 92 from Brazil, who claimed his sixth ATP Challenger Tour trophy at the Braga Open in Portugal last month, withstood six aces and broke his opponent’s serve four times to prevail after two hours and 49 minutes.
“Only a little things made the difference today,” Monteiro said. “Tomas is a great player and he’s having a very good year. Also, he had the support of his people, that always gives you some extra motivation. Luckily, I was able to close the match out in the best way.”
Later in the afternoon, No. 3 seed Cerundolo faced less difficulties during his comfortable 6-1, 6-1 win over Uruguayan qualifier Martin Cuevas. The 23-year-old Argentine converted six of his 12 break-point chances and won 62 per cent of the total points played to advance after one hour and two minutes.
🎙 Las sensaciones de @FranCerundolo después de superar a Martín Cuevas por 6-1 y 6-1, con una interrupción por lluvia en el medio, pasar a SF del #ChallengerBA. pic.twitter.com/apBzMERSlT
— Challenger de Buenos Aires (@ChallengerBA) October 22, 2021
“I think that I was able to play my best tennis today, which made it easier for me to win in a short time. I’m happy to have performed this way and hopefully I can repeat this Saturday in the semi-finals,” World No. 113 Cerundolo said and added about the upcoming match with Monteiro.
“It will be a very difficult match, we played twice and he beat me. The last one was at Roland Garros. Thiago plays with very high intensity and hits the balls from all sides. I hope to win this time.”
The other two semi-final match-up between No. 5 Hugo Dellien of Bolivia and second favourite Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina as well as between Argentine Sebastian Baez and Juan Pablo Varillas from Peru were cancelled due to bad weather and postponed to Saturday.
☔️ 🌧 Quedó postergado lo que restaba de la jornada del viernes. Los esperamos este sábado desde las 11 en el @RacketClubAR para vivir el mejor tenis de mundo en el #ChallengerBA pic.twitter.com/46eibmZahg
— Challenger de Buenos Aires (@ChallengerBA) October 23, 2021
