AMBATO/STARNBERG, October 19, 2022

In his debut on the ATP Challenger Tour, Andres Andrade of Ecuador secured his first match win in the opening round of the Ambato La Gran Ciudad. The 23-year-old local wild card entry battled past French alternate Sean Cuenin 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-5 on Monday.

The match was suspended on Monday due to darkness after the second set. Tuesday’s resumption saw Andrade with more confidence and looking for the opportunity to break his opponent’s serve. In the end, the World No. 678 won six points less than Cuenin but secured victory in exactly three hours of play.

“It was a very complicated Challenger debut but a great match that we played. Today all of the games were very tight, it was all about to serve better. I had a first match point at 5-4. I didn’t capitalize on it, but kept my calm. I’m very happy to be here,” said Andrade, who only started playing professionally last May after finishing his university studies in the United States.

Next up will be No. 4 seed Facundo Mena of Argentina, who rallied past his compatriot and qualifier Matias Zukas 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in one hour and 36 minutes.

Top seed Juan Pablo Varillas began his title bid with a first-round win in straight sets. The World No. 123 from Peru beat Japanese qualifier Kosuke Ogura 6-2, 6-2. Varillas sent down five aces and won 90 per cent of his first-service points to advance in 55 minutes. He will next face 19-year-old Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France.

Tuesday Results 

Singles – First Round

Thiago Tirante (ARG) def. Álvaro Guillén (ECU) 7-6(3) 7-5

Andrés Andrade (ECU) def. Sean Cuenin (FRA) 5-7 7-6(6) 7-5

Jorge Panta (PER) def. Roberto Quiroz (ECU) 1-6 6-4 6-2

Juan Pablo Varillas (PER) def. Kosuke Ogura (JPN) 6-2 6-2

Joao Reis Da Silva (BRA) def. Juan Pablo Ficovich (ARG) 7-6(9) 6-4

Miljan Zekic (SRB) def. N. Sriram Balaji (IND)  6-4 7-6(9)

Facundo Mena (ARG) def. Matías Zukas (ARG) 4-6 6-1 6-0

Nicolás Mejía (COL) def. Gerald Melzer (AUT) 7-5 7-6(6)

Juan Otegui (ARG) def. Dmitry Popko (KAZ) 6-4 7-5

Benjamin Lock (ZIM) def. Facundo Juárez (ARG) 6-4 7-5

Kiranpal Pannu (NZL) def. Conner Huertas del Pino (PER) 6-3 6-2

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (FRA) def. Jan Choinski (GBR) 6-3 7-6(6)

#ATPChallengerAmbato 🎾 Cuadros de singles y dobles.
📍Club Tungurahua
🎫 ENTRADA LIBRE #LaGranCiudad pic.twitter.com/JxsWJTZ3qh

— KCtenis (@KCtenis) October 19, 2022