GUAYAQUIL/STARNBERG, November 5, 2022
Three of the top four players at the XVIII Challenger Ciudad de Guayaquil Copa Banco Guayaquil presentado por CNT have reached the semi-finals. Federico Coria, No. 1 seed of the $53,120 clay-court event in Ecuador, defeated Matheu Pucinelli de Almeida of Brazil 6-4, 6-4 on Friday.
The World No. 71 from Argentina converted three of his nine break-point chances to advance in one hour and 34 minutes.
#ChallengerdeGuayaquil Disfruta de los mejores momentos del partido entre 🇦🇷Coria y 🇧🇷 Pucinelli. El argentino y máximo favorito ya está en semifinales. pic.twitter.com/AiCSAnZgGG
— Challenger de Guayaquil (@challengye05) November 4, 2022
“You always have to suffer a little bit. I think I tried to correct the mistakes of the last two matches, but it didn’t work out. I don’t regret it because I went for it, but I’m happy to have won in two sets in this heat, it’s important for my physical condition and to be ready for another battle tomorrow,” said Coria, who will next take on fourth favourite Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Argentine Nicolas Kicker.
The Rosario native will try to break the bad streak of results against Varillas, with whom he has lost four of the five matches played. Coria is bidding for his second Challenger trophy of the season following his triumph in Milan, Italy in June.
Altmaier to face Cecchinato
In the bottom half of the draw, Daniel Altmaier battled past Jesper de Jong from the Netherlands 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. The No. 3 seed from Germany saved 10 of the 11 break points he faced and capitalized on three of his own nine break-point opportunities to prevail after two hours and eight minutes.
Altmaier will next face Italian Marco Cecchinato, who beat fellow qualifier Jan Choinski of Great Britain 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes.
#ChallengerdeGuayaquil Revive los mejores momentos de la victoria de 🇮🇹Marco Cecchinato frente a🇬🇧Jan Choinski. El italiano va contra 🇩🇪 Altmaier en semifinales. pic.twitter.com/wYwlGy8snI
— Challenger de Guayaquil (@challengye05) November 5, 2022
