SALVADOR DE BAHIA/STARNBERG, May 7, 2022
The top two seeds lead the semi-finals line-up of the Challenger 80 Dove Men+Care Salvador. Tomas Barrios Vera, No. 1 seed of the $53,120 clay-court event hosted by the Costa Verde Tenis Clube, emerged victorious from the all-Chilean encounter with eighth favourite Gonzalo Lama, winning 6-2, 6-3 on Friday.
Barrios Vera capitalized on five of his 10 break-point chances and won 58 per cent of the total points played to advance after one hour and 42 minutes.
The World No. 145 from Chillan will next take on Argentine Guillermo Villanueva, who defeated Daniel Dutra da Silva of Brazil 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 45 minutes.
This week, we are back in Brazil 🇧🇷
The beautiful coastal town of Salvador de Bahia welcomes players and fans for the first time since 2010.@LegionSudam | #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/TegkOB5lf5
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 6, 2022
In the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 seed Renzo Olivo ended the impressive run of 19-year-old Brazilian qualifier Pedro Boscardin Dias. The World No. 188 from Argentina, a winner of three ATP Challenger Tour titles, broke the teenager’s serve seven times to secure a 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory in three hours and two minutes.
Up next for Olivo will be Joao Domingues of Portugal, who edged past qualifier Wilson Leite from Brazil 7-6(4), 6-3. The quarterfinal match lasted two hours and 24 minutes.
In Saturday’s doubles final, home faourites and top seeds Orlando Luz and Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves will take on the tournament’s No. 2 seeds Diego Hidalgo from Ecuador and Cristian Rodriguez of Colombia.
