Four Spaniards advance to the round of 16 at the Rio de Janeiro Open

Spain already has four tennis players in the round of 16 of the Rio de Janeiro Open.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
24 February 2023 Friday 18:39
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Four Spaniards advance to the round of 16 at the Rio de Janeiro Open

Spain already has four tennis players in the round of 16 of the Rio de Janeiro Open. Carlos Alcaraz, current number 2 in the world; Albert Ramos Viñolas (47), Bernabé Zapata (63) and Pedro Martínez (76) will be the national representatives in the next round of the only ATP 500 tournament in South America. Jaume Munar (66) and Roberto Carballés Baena (73) for their part, were eliminated in the first round.

In this tournament, Spain and Argentina were the countries with the highest number of representatives —six and seven respectively—, but after this Wednesday's matches, there are four Spanish players who have advanced to the round, while five Argentines have been eliminated. Now Argentina will only be represented by Francisco Cerundolo (33) and Sebastián Báez (35), its best tennis players today.

Alcaraz, champion in Rio last year and who won the Argentine Open title on Sunday, eliminated Brazilian Mateus Alves, number 556 in the ATP ranking, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that began on Tuesday and ended this Wednesday because of the rain. In the round of 16, the man from El Palmar will face the Italian Fabio Fognini (86), who beat the Chilean Marcelo Barrios Vera (196) 6-2, 6-3.

Fognini, who was a finalist at the Rio Open in 2015 after beating Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, was precisely the victim of Alcaraz in the semifinals in Brazil last year.

"I'm doing very well after four months unemployed. In Buenos Aires I had a very good week and here I am also very confident and wanting more. I am not a boy or a player who settles. I always want more and we are going to look for it this week ", declared the number two in the world after his victory against Alves. "My goals are to stay there; try to win more, win more Grand Slams, try to regain number one, which is a good goal. That's what I hope for this year," he added.

Alcaraz also spoke about Djokovic and the fight for number one in the ranking. "I don't think that fighting with Djokovic for number one generates pressure for me. A beautiful year awaits me, with beautiful tournaments. Although, it is true that perhaps it will be a year of pressure, in which I will have to defend important titles I'm going to have to play at a high level, but as I've always said, I go to each game thinking that I have to enjoy myself and have a good time. Beyond the result, that's what I hope for"

Spaniards Zapata and Ramos also secured a place in the round of 16. Zapata beat his compatriot Jaume Munar 6-3, 7-5, while Ramos defeated Argentine Tomás Etcheverry 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

In the next round, Zapata will face Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who eliminated Spanish Roberto Caballés Baena in the first round, while Ramos will face Colombian Daniel Galán (88), who advanced after eliminating Argentine Pedro Cachín.

The fourth Spaniard to advance was Pedro Martínez, who beat Chilean Cristian Garín, champion in Rio de Janeiro in 2020, 7-6, 6-4.