Land arrives and the Navy, in need of illusions, begins to fuel. This Wednesday, all the Spanish players who entered action at the ATP 250 in Estoril won, which will feature four national players in its round of 16. Furthermore, they will face each other. Pablo Martínez (77th in the ranking and 26 years old), after beating the German Daniel Altmaier (54th) by 6-4 and 6-2 in 1h42, will face Roberto Bautista (93rd and 35th), who on Monday beat Mimoir Kecmanovic. The other derby will feature Pablo Llamas (152nd and 21st) and David Jordá (329th and 29th). The first, one of the national hopes, beat the German Dominik Koepfer (52nd) 6-4 and 6-3 in 1h37; the second, an unexpected appearance, against the Portuguese Jaime Faria (220th) by 7-6 and 6-1 in 1h45.
Jordá’s case draws powerful attention. At 29 years old, the Catalan player, who with the victory has already climbed 33 positions in the ranking (he is virtually 296th, his best position), is playing his first final draw in an ATP tournament. Before, his entire career had passed in lower categories, with two titles in his record, although relatively recent: last year he won the M25 in Gurb and in 2022, the M15 in Madrid, both from the ITF circuit. In Estoril, against one of the pearls of Portuguese tennis, he has taken a step as unexpected as it is important in his particular career. Jaime Faria, who had 24 wins and only 4 losses this year and was also playing in his first ATP final draw, succumbed to Jordá’s powerful serve, which was a cyclone in the second round.
His appearance, furthermore, is even more unexpected if one takes into account that he entered as a lucky loser after losing in the previous match against, precisely, Pablo Llamas, who could be facing a key week in his career. At 21 years old, the Spaniard, on the clay of Cascais, achieved the most important victory of his young career: he had never beaten a player with such a high ranking or a seeded player, since Koepfer started as the eighth favorite . After a great month of February, in which he beat Richard Gasquet and squeezed Holger Rune in Montpellier, his second ATP draw, he continues to take steps forward.
Pedro Martínez, add and continue
The duel between Llamas and Jordá will be a great opportunity for both, as one of the two will reach the most important stage of their career so far. In another range, more established in the circuit, Pedro Martínez who is on a very positive streak will also seek to advance. So far in 2024, taking into account all tournament categories, the Valencian has a record of 9-2 on clay. In Santiago, where in 2022 he won the title, he reached the semifinals and, last week, in Girona, he lifted his sixth trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour. Against a Bautista who wants to recover his sensations after a stretch marked by injuries, Martínez, winner in the only direct duel, will seek to continue climbing a ranking in which he was 40th.
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2024-04-03 16:26:01
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