With uneven luck, the Argentines started this Monday their performances in the ATP 250 tennis tournament in Estoril, Portugalwhich will award prizes for 630 thousand euros and is played on brick dust surface. Sebastián Báez and Pedro Cachín were successful in their respective debuts, but Diego Schwartzman was eliminated.
Báez beat Moldovan Radu Albot 7-5 and 7-6after two sets that were very difficult for the current champion of the Portuguese event.
The Buenos Aires 22 years old and located in position 33 of the international ladder found many complications against Albot (106)not only because of his rival’s good form but also because of his physical problems with his left thigh.
The winner of the last edition of the Estoril Opena coastal town located about 25 kilometers from Lisbon, they started the first set down by two, but then prevailed 7-5.
Báez’s comeback was even greater in the second setin which he was about to lose 5-2, but ended up getting the win and the pass to the next round.
Now, The tennis player born in San Martín will face an Argentine duel in the round of 16 at the end of the Portuguese event, after the victory of Pedro Cachín over the Taiwanese Chun Hsin Tseng (145) for a double 6-4.
for the cordovan 27 years old and number 67 in the ranking, the third was the charm, since he managed to beat the Taiwanese for the first timewho had surpassed it when they crossed paths in the Future Vale do Lobo (Portugal) 2020 and the Challenger de Murcia 2022.
Finally, Schwartzman (33) from Buenos Aires did not have the same luck that his compatriots, by falling 6-3 and 7-6 against the Italian Marco Cecchinato (96).
Cecchinato was superior at the beginning and he won the first set well, but the native of Palermo showed claw in a highly disputed second sleeve and caused many difficulties for the Italian, who however he took the win.
The Estoril Open -whose No. 1 seed is Norway’s Casper Ruud (4)- It will end next Sunday.
The Portuguese tournament has been held since 1990, and its winners include big names like Serbian Novak Djokovicthe swiss Roger Federer and the Spanish Sergi Bruguera and Pablo Carrenoamong others.