Tomás Barrios says goodbye to the Santiago Challenger 3 in the semifinals. He played a spectacular first set, but could not replicate it in the following. He was eliminated against Sebastián Báez after falling 6-3, 3-6 and 4-6. There are no longer any Chileans in the capital.
The start showed the entire Chilean arsenal. He played solid and clearly from the bottom. When hitting flat, the opponent resented. AND Although Báez is an expert in defending, he could not contain the national tennis player. That is why the tranquility was total, at least in those moments of the Santiago afternoon. Tomás showed himself to the full and the Argentine looked lost. Everything was served for a party, and it is that probably the 154th in the world was showing the best tennis of his week.
But nothing is eternal. Although Barrios took the first set with a comfortable 6-3, the feeling of excessive superiority, little by little was fading. In the second set the Argentine quickly showed the tennis that has him as one of the most promising South American tennis players on the circuit. At just 20 years old, he is serene, powerful and fighter. He does not give a ball for lost and in the long run that drives him crazy.
And although Barrios did not fall into madness, he did suffer from the attack. Lost the second set 6-3 and everything was level on the scoreboard, but not in the sensations. The chillanejo decreased in intensity and lost clarity, something that would unfortunately continue in the third set.
It was a quick blow, the kind that leaves you with no chance to react. Báez broke him from the start and Tomás did not know how to be the protagonist again. Unforced errors and doubts arrived. On the other side of the mesh, the opposite. With the score in favor, the trans-Andean player took his best shots. And he won his game and went broke again.
Tomás tried to wake up with the break to go 1-3, but the power of the trans-Andean attacked again. He closed the third break of the set with a weekly repetition point and was 4-1 and serve. It seemed that everything was ending, but the night continued to have surprises.
The second national racket took advantage of the nerves of his rival to break and get closer. An illusion that was shattered when there was no longer any margin. The Chilean fought to the end, but was left without the jackpot after losing the last set 6-4. Barrios says goodbye and Santiago is left without Chileans. Báez will now seek to raise a trophy again in national territory.
