SANTIAGO/STARNBERG, October 15, 2021
The 32-man-draw has been whittled down to the final eight at the Dove Men & Care Legión Sudamericana Challenger Santiago 3 in Chile. Home favourite and No. 6 seed Tomas Barrios Vera cruised through his second-round match on Thursday.
The World No. 154 defeated 20-year-old local wild card entry Diego Fernandez Flores 6-0, 6-1. Barrios Vera, who clinched his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour at the Rhein Asset Open presented by B&B Hotels in Meerbusch, Germany in August, broke his compatriot’s serve seven times and won 66 per cent of the total points played to advance after only 64 minutes.
“I played some high level of tennis today, better than last week and similar to the level I played during the tournaments in Europe. I am very happy about that and look forward to tomorrow’s match,” Barrios Vera said.
The 23-year-old Santiago native will next take on Juan Pablo Varillas. The No. 3 seed from Peru outlasted Czech youngster Dalibor Svrcina 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes.
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In the bottom half of the draw, Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves of Brazil rallied from a set down to overcome seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Londero from Argentina 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The World No. 205 from Campinas converted six of his 10 break-point opportunities to prevail after two hours and 18 minutes.
Meligeni Rodrigues Alves will next face Austrian veteran Gerald Melzer, who eased past Argentine Thiago Tirante, champion of the Ambato La Gran Ciudad Challenger in Ecuador last month, 6-2, 6-0. The encounter lasted one hour and 10 minutes.
