BRASILIA/STARNBERG, November 28, 2021
The top two seeds of the $52,080 Aberto Da Republica will go head-to-head in Sunday’s singles final when Federico Coria of Argentina takes on Spaniard Jaume Munar for the title at the ATP Challenger 80 clay-court tournament in Brasilia, Brazil.
No. 1 seed Coria was only 39 minutes on the court in his semi-final match on Saturday, as his compatriot and fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo was forced to retire. The World No. 69 was leading 6-2, 2-1 when Cerundolo stopped playing due to a should injury.
“It’s not the best way to reach a final. Francisco is my friend and I hope he recovers as soon as possible. I’m happy to be in the final here in Brasilia and I hope to clinch the title tomorrow,” said Coria.
Munar on the other hand had to go the distance, beating Pedro Cachin of Argentina 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3. The second seed from Mallorca converted five of his 10 break-point chances and won 51 per cent of the total points played to prevail after two hours and 55 minutes.
Coria is bidding for his third ATP Challenger career crown, his second of the season following his triumph at the Czech Open in Prostejov in June. Munar could lift seventh trophy. His last title win came in late January in Antalya, Turkey. Munar won the only previous meeting between the two in the first round of the 2017 Rio de Janeiro Challenger in three sets.
Alves/Heide crowned doubles champions
Later in the afternoon, Mateus Alves and Gustavo Heide delighted their home crowd in the doubles final. The wild card entries defeated Italian Luciano Darderi and Argentine Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-3, 6-3 to claim their maiden ATP Challenger title.
“It was a great result for us. We made the most of the week and closed the tournament with a flourish. I would like to thank CBT (Brazilian Tennis Federation) for the invitation and the opportunity,” Heide said.
“Brasilia is a very important city for me, it was here that I won my first ATP point. I’m very happy with the result and I hope we can maintain the high level in the next tournaments,” added Alves.
The pair split $3,100 in prize money and earned 80 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
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