MEXICO CITY/STARNBERG, April 8, 2022
The ATP Challenger Tour has returned to the capital of Mexico for the first time since 2018 this week. The Mexico City Open is a $159,360 clay-court tournament hosted by the Club Deportivo Chapultepec, one of the most important venues in the history of Mexican tennis and known as ‘The Tennis Cathedral of Mexico’.
Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus in the center of the country, at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,350 ft). The event marks the beginning of the spring Challenger swing in the country, which also includes San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes and Morelos.
La noche cae y las luces se encienden en el Estadio Rafael Osuna para crear postales ESPECTACULARES en el inicio del #MXCityOpen2022.
🤩🌃🏟@ATPChallenger @DChapultepec pic.twitter.com/KpfqiuZOkW
— México City Open (@mxcityopen) April 5, 2022
Three South Americans and one player from Europe feature the semi-finals line-up led by Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The No. 2 seed from Argentina beat Evgeny Donskoy of Russia, Elmar Ejupovic from Germany and Brazilian qualifier Mateus Alves en route to the stage of the final four without dropping a set. Etcheverry eased past Alves 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday afternoon.
“This has been my best match that I have played so far in the tournament, every day I get more used to the altitude, so I am very happy with the result,” Etcheverry said afterwards. The World No. 106, who is seeking his fourth ATP Challenger career crown, his second of the season following his triumph in Concepcion, Chile, will next take on Nicolas Jarry.
The seventh-seeded wild card entry edged past Gerald Melzer of Austria 7-6(4), 7-5. Jarry struck 15 aces and won 88 per cent of his first-service points to seal victory in two hours and 13 minutes. “It was a great match, Melzer is a good friend but also a very tough player in these conditions. I made a couple of mistakes, but I was able to turn it around,” the 26-year-old Chilean said.
In the top half of the draw, Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler defeated Maxime Janvier of France 6-3, 6-3. The World No. 176 won 58 per cent of the total points played to prevail after one hour and 11 minutes. Up next for Huesler will be Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves, who knocked out Renzo Olivo from Argentina 7-6(5), 6-3. The match lasted one hour and 54 minutes.
