“There is no better feeling than starting winning”

The Argentinian John Manuel Certainly today won the Tigre Tennis Challenger, in the province of Buenos Aires, beating Bolivian Murkel Alejandro Dellien Velasco 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

Cerúndolo, seeded number 1 in the tournament and ranked 151 in the ATP world ranking, needed 2 hours and 39 minutes to defeat Bolivian Dellien Velasco (327) in a changing match, in the first meeting between the two in the professional circuit.

The youngest of the Cerúndolo brothers thus capped an excellent week and won the first Challenger of the season by successively defeating the French Titouan Droguet (286), the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (418), the Argentine Guido Andeozzi (386) and the Italian Alessandro Giannessi (262).

Cerúndolo, who started losing the first set against Bolivian Dellien Velasco, had a tough match. “He had me studied everywhere, I couldn’t find the way around. I was there, trying to fight and fight, until in the second set he gave me the chance to break and I noticed that the intensity had dropped. I won the second and in the second set third he started with a very big drop”, said the Argentine after his victory.

“I came to look for rhythm, but there is no more beautiful feeling than winning. I think I did things well in the preseason,” the porteño completed.

In this way, Argentine tennis began in the best way in 2023 in the Challenger tournaments, which are next in importance to the ATP, by winning one in the first week of competition of the year.

During 2022, Argentina won 23 Challenger events, a new category record for a country in one season. Pedro Cachín from Cordoba, with 4 titles, was the one who won the most during the previous year.

The Tigre Challenger took place on clay courts at the Hacoaj Nautical Club, in that Buenos Aires city, and distributed a total of $40,000 in prizes.

Cerúndolo’s word

With information from Télam and social networks

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