PUERTO VALLARTA/STARNBERG, November 26, 2021
After a year hiatus due to the coronavirus crisis, the ATP Challenger Tour is back in the Mexican beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta, situated on the Pacific Ocean’s Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
The Puerto Vallarta Open earned Tournament of the Year honours in 2018 as well as in 2019. The city is defined by the natural charm of its beaches embraced by the Sierra Madre mountains, providing a perfect backdrop for an international tennis event.
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This week’s third edition of the $52,080 hard-court event is hosted by the Parque Parota. Top seed Pablo Cuevas leads the quarterfinals line-up. The World No. 98 from Uruguay defeated US-American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the opening round in straight sets and benefited from the retirement of Argentine alternate Matias Franco Descotte on Thursday.
Cuevas will next play Yosuke Watanuki of Japan, who rallied past No. 7 seed Tung-Lin Wu of Chinese Taipei 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3 in a more than three hours lasting fight on Cancha La Aficion. No. 2 seed Alejandro Tabilo from Chile will take on eighth-seeded Japanese Tatsuma Ito in the quarterfinals.
Altmaier leads the draw’s bottom half
In the bottom half of the draw, Daniel Altmaier advanced to the stage of the final eight without dropping a set. The No. 2 seed from Germany beat Michael Redlicki from the United States in his first-round match, backed up by a 6-3, 6-3 win over US-American qualifier Govind Nanda.
Altmaier will next face US-American teenager Zachary Svajda, winner of the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in August. The 18-year-old from San Diego edged out his compatriot and No. 6 seed Christian Harrison 6-1, 7-6(9) in the second round in just under two hours of play.
In the remaining quarterfinal match, No. 5 seed Michael Mmoh from the United States will oppose Kaichi Uchida of Japan.
