The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, number 2 in the world, qualified this Friday for the semifinals of the IEB Argentina Open that is held at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis, where he is the first seed. The Murcian beat the Italian Andrea Vavassori (152) in the tournament of which he is the defending champion, 7-6(1) and 6-1 in one hour and 41 minutes.
The Spaniard, who had beaten Camilo Ugo Carabelli (134) in his previous match, in the round of 16, will face Chilean Nicolás Jarry (21) this Saturday, third in the pre-tournament standings, who won against Argentine Tomás Etcheverry (27), sixth headliner, 4-6, 7-5, 1-1 and retired from the venue due to muscle ailments. "It was a very difficult match, Andrea is a very aggressive player, with a great serve and volley, that's why it was difficult for me at the beginning," said the Spanish winner at a press conference after the victory on the not-so-hot afternoon at the Argentine summer.
"Once I won the tie break I was able to play more relaxed and that made things easier for me in the second set. I think I knew how to take advantage of the opportunities that were presented to me and I was able to move forward in the match," analyzed the champion tennis player of the edition of the last year, who remains undefeated in Buenos Aires with six wins.
Meanwhile, the Argentine tennis player Federico Coria, 106th in the ranking, won this Friday in two sets 6-1 and 6-4, giving the surprise in the quarterfinals to his compatriot Sebastián Báez (30) -fifth headliner- and getting the ticket to the semifinals of the IEB Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.
The brother of former tennis player Guillermo Coria, current captain of the national team that qualified a few weeks ago to play in the final phase of the Davis Cup, impressed those present by overwhelming his rival in the first set and conceding only one game. However, Báez, from the Buenos Aires city of San Martín, overcame the second set and made his opponent sweat on each serve, before victory was taken from him.
Coria, a native of the city of Rosario, in Santa Fe, adds to this heroic feat his victory last Thursday, where he defeated the British Cameron Norrie (20), second seed in the championship. “It was the best victory of my career. Beat Cameron, who was Top 10 a short time ago, and do it here in Buenos Aires,” he said after that match.
Coria will face tomorrow his compatriot Facundo Díaz Costa (87), who has just beaten Serbian Dusan Lajovic (33), and together with him they become one of the best stories of this edition, where both have eliminated some of the most recognized names.
