AMBATO/STARNBERG, October 18, 2022

Facundo Bagnis of Argentina opened his title bid at the Ambato La Gran Ciudad with a win in straight sets on Monday. The No. 2 seed of the $53,120 clay-court event in Ambato, Ecuador, defeated Arklon Huertas del Pino Cordova from Peru 6-3, 7-6(0).

Bagnis, 32, struck seven aces and won 91 per cent of his first-service points to advance in one hour and 18 minutes.

“I felt good. The match was very good. The first rounds are difficult and especially in a condition that is so complicated for us because of the altitude; then, the matches are very even. It is difficult to break serve, there are not many rallies, but it went well and with the possibility of continuing to improve”, said Bagnis.

The World No. 114, who is bidding for his second ATP Challenger title of the season following his triumph in Pereira, Colombia, will next take on Nikola Milojevic of Serbia, who edged past local wild card entry Cayetano March 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 19 minutes.

In other main draw action, fifth-seeded Argentine Santiago Rodriguez Taverna cruised past Tunisian veteran Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-3 in 56 minutes and Nicolas Alvarez of Peru beat Murkel Dellien from Bolivia 7-6(3), 6-3. The encounter lasted one hour and 33 minutes.

#ATPChallengerAmbato 🎾 Primera Ronda:
Santiago Rodríguez Taverna ARG ganó a Malek Jaziri TUN 6-1, 6-3
📸 Challenger Ambato / Armando Prado pic.twitter.com/zC4NKU78L1

— KCtenis (@KCtenis) October 18, 2022

Monday Results

Main draw – First Round

Facundo Bagnis (ARG) def. Arklon Huertas Del Pino (PER) 6-3 7-6(0)

Santiago Rodríguez Taverna (ARG) def. Malek Jaziri (TUN) 6-1 6-3

Nicolás Álvarez (PER) def. Murkel Dellien (BOL) 7-6(3) 6-3

Nikola Milojevic (SRB) def. Cayetano March (ECU) 7-5 6-1

Qualifying – Second Round

Matías Zukas (ARG) def. Igor Gimenez (BRA) 7-6(2) 7-6(3)

Jorge Panta (PER) def. Colin Markes (USA)  6-4 7-6(8)

Kiranpal Pannu (NZL) def. Peter Bertran (DOM) 4-6 6-3 6-4

Sriram Balaji (IND) def. Tristan McCormick (USA) 2-6 6-1 6-4

Conner Huertas del Pino (PER) def. Courtney Lock (ZIM) 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(5)

Kosuke Ogura (JPN) def. Gonzalo Bueno (PER) 7-6(6) 6-2