Australian Open: the qualy played 12,000 km from Melbourne and Francisco Cerúndolo, the Argentine looking to play his first Grand Slam

The famous new normal caused by the pandemic generates that the valuable qualification of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the tennis season, is being played in Doha (for men) and in Dubai (for women) taking into account the sanitary restrictions in Melbourne. Although the Australian Open has had several venues (it was even played once in New Zealand), it is still striking that the classification is played on another continent, and at 11,972 kilometers: that is the distance from Doha to Melbourne.

Without female players from our country in the female version, the male qualification has a good number of national rackets. And on the first day of action, the note was given by Francisco Cerúndolo, the 22-year-old player who in the last months of 2020 won three challengers titles (Split, Guayaquil and Campinas) and advanced more than one hundred positions (he started the year as 241 ° and finished 139th).

Eldest son of Alejandro “Toto” Cerúndolo (he was among the best 310 players in the world in 1982 and is a coach / trainer), Francisco is competing for the first time in the classification of a Grand Slam event. On the concrete of the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex (the usual stage of the Qatari ATP), the right-handed, 1.85m tennis player debuted with a very good victory by 6-2 and 6-4 against a rival with greater experience, such as the Spanish Guillermo García López (37 years old, currently 222nd, but 23rd in 2011 and with five ATP titles). In one hour and fourteen minutes of play, Francisco hit four aces, committed six double faults, achieved 57% of first serves, won 92% of points with the first serve and 47% with the second. In addition, he broke the European’s serve four times.

Cerúndolo’s next rival will be another Spaniard: Mario Vilella Martínez, 186th in the ranking and 25 years old. It will be the first confrontation between the two. To access the main draw of the Australian Open (will start on February 8) from qualifying, three games must be won. Those players who achieve that objective transcending must travel from Doha (or Dubai, in the case of women) to Melbourne and begin the 14-day quarantine required by the Aussie government. The protocol contemplates a special permit to train in Melbourne Park or receive medical / kinesiological care up to five hours a day. Likewise, both in Doha and Dubai, players are subjected to different health tests and live in a kind of bubble (they are only allowed to be in official hotels and at the club). Those who do not respect the rules will be exposed to sanctions and, of course, expulsion from the competition.

The other Argentine players who debuted on the first day of qualifying in Australia did not have the same fortune as Cerúndolo. Facundo Mena (237 °, 28 years) fell to Russian Evgeny Karlovskiy (258, 26 years) 3-6, 6-3 and 6-2, in two hours. Facundo Bagnis (125 °, 30 years old) lost to Indian Ramkumar Ramanathan (188 °, 26 years old) by 7-6 (8-6) and 7-5, in 1h53m. After the nightmare he experienced last December (23 days of quarantine in Maia, Portugal, after having tested positive for coronavirus in the challenger in that city), Marco Trungelliti (243 °, 30 years old) was beaten by the German Maximilian Marterer (209 °, 25 years old) by 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4, in 2h50m. AND Andrea Collarini (203 °, 28 years) fell against the Brazilian Joao Menezes (193 °, 24 years) by 1-6, 7-6 (10-8) and 6-3, eh 2h28m.

On the second day of action in the Australian Open qualy, the other two Argentines in the draw will perform: Renzo Olivo (212 °, 28 years) against the German Julian Lenz (245 °, 27) and Guido Andreozzi (166 °, 29) against the Australian Tristan Schoolkate (839 °, 19, received an invitation from the organization).