First modification: 24/05/2022 – 04:04
Paris (AFP) – Sebastián Báez (N.36) and Pedro Cachín (N.152) were the positive notes for Argentine tennis by winning their first round matches at Roland Garros in a complicated second day for the tennis players of the South American country.
The young Báez, 21 years old, showed that he is in a great moment of form – he was a quarter-finalist in Lyon last week, losing to the subsequent champion, the British Cameron Norrie – to prevail against a dangerous rival like the Serbian (finalist in Monte Carlo -2019) in 2h28 of play.
In the second round, Báez will have a tough nut to crack, since his rival will be the German Alexander Zverev, No. 3 in the world and semifinalist at Roland Garros last year.
Participating in his first Grand Slam as a ‘lucky loser’ (due to the withdrawal of another participant), Cachín (27 years old) battled for more than two and a half hours to win against the Slovakian Norbert Gombos (N.115), a player with more experience in ‘big’ tournaments, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 and 6-3.
In the second round, Cachín will face the winner of the party that disputes the mars the Australian Alex de Miñaur (19) against the French Hugo Gaston.
Taverna takes Fritz on September 5th
Very close to giving a big surprise was Santiago Rodríguez Taverna (N.201), who took his match to the fifth set against Taylor Fritz (N.14), champion in Indian Wells in April, to finally lose 7-6 (7 /2), 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 and 6-4 in 3h36 of fighting without quarter.
Also logical were the defeats of the other two Argentine tennis players who played so far on the second day of the Parisian tournament, since they faced seeded heads.
In a fairly balanced match, Francisco Cerúndolo (N.44) lost in three sets, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4, against the British Daniel Evans (N.32), who took advantage of the commit fewer unforced errors than his rival (27 to 48 for the Argentine) to achieve his first victory after five appearances in Paris.
The young Tomás Martín Etcheverry (N.90) also had no options against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (N.31), trained by David Nalbandian and who defeated him 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in 2h54 of the match.
At night, Federico Coria was supposed to play against the Slovakian Alex Molcan, but the organization decided to postpone the match due to lack of light on track N.4.
The Chilean Christian Garín, who faced the American Tommy Paul (N.33), was able to start at that time, but the match was interrupted by rain with 3-2 in favor of the South American in the first set.
The other Chilean who was supposed to play this Monday, Alejandro Tabilo, was finally unable to participate due to an injury to his left arm, being replaced by the Italian Alessandro Giannessi, who lost to Croatian Borna Gojo.
© 2022 AFP
