The Buenos Aires Sebastian Baez will begin the defense of the title won last year at the Estoril Open 250, Portugalwhen he faces Moldovan this Monday Radu Albot (106th) for the first time in his career, not before 9:30 a.m. (Argentine time)at the start of the European brick dust tour.
For the man born in San Martín it will also be his debut as a sbest located udamericano in the ranking, with its brand new 32nd place. Báez took a place ahead of Francisco Cerúndolo (33rd), who was defending the semifinals at the Miami Masters and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Estoril was where Báez won the first title of his professional career, after beating the American Francis Tiafoe 6-3, 6-2 in the May 2022 final. The 22-year-old tennis player added a second item to his showcase in February this year when he won the Cordoba Open after defeating Federico Coria 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Schwartzman and Cachín play
In Portugal they will also try their luck Diego Schwartzman and Pedro Cachín. El Peque (36th) is still looking to rediscover something of the level that he knew how to place him in eighth place in the ATP ranking by the end of 2020 and will face the Italian Marco Cecchinato (95th) to get into the round of 16, not before 10:40. The porteño, who surpasses the European 4-1 in the history, comes from being eliminated in the 32nd round in Miami and adds 15 tournaments in a row without being able to overcome more than one phase. His 2023 mark is three wins and eight losses, while he closed 2022 with seven losses in a row.
On the Cordovan side Cachín (67th), 27 years old, the opponent will be the Taiwanese Chun Hsin Tseng (140th) at 8 in the morning. Despite the difference in rankings, the Asian won the two previous clashes between the two, in 2020 and 2022.
Ruud, the great favorite
The ATP 250 of Estoril distributes prizes for 630 thousand euros and tNorwegian Casper Ruud (5th) is the top favorite, who is not having a good year either after his great 2022, when he knew how to be a finalist at Roland Garros (loss in three sets with Rafael Nadal) and the US Open (loss in four sets with Carlos Alcaraz). The Nordic comes from being eliminated in the 32nd round in Miami, where he was also runner-up last year (in two sets with Alcaraz) and accumulate more defeats than wins so far this season: 5 and 6.
Ruud will start directly in the round of 16, just like the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (12th) and the Spanish Roberto Bautista-Agut (28th).