Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Diego Schwartzman, Argentina's only smile in men's tennis

07/25/2021 6:52 AM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 07/25/2021 6:52 AM

Diego Schwartzman, the main chance for a medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for Argentine tennis, qualified this Sunday for the second round of the tournament after successfully defeating Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (No. 122), 7-5 and 6 -4 in two hours of the game.

The 'Peque' only needed one break in each set to sign up the game against a rival who offered him enormous resistance.

Schwartzman will face the winner of the match between the Portuguese Joao Sousa and the Czech Tomas Machac in the second round.

"I'm not making excuses but I haven't played in cement for a long time. I haven't played since March, in Miami. And it was hard for me to adapt. It's also difficult to play in this heat. The truth is that it's ridiculous to play in this heat," he said. Peque, eighth seeded in the competition.

Rods was a tough nut to crack for Schwartzman.

Photo: Reuters

And he added: "Luckily I played my best tennis in the key moments of the match. The truth is that I did not know how Varillas played. But it is good that he was able to get ahead."

Less luck were his compatriots Federico Coria, Facundo Bagnis and Francisco Cerúndolo, who were eliminated at the first exchange.

Coria lost in two sets against the Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, 7-6 (4) and 7-5, while Bagnis played a great match against the German Dominik Koepfer, but in the end he ended up losing 6-3, 3-6 and 7-5.

Before, Francisco Cerúndolo had fired, who succumbed to British Liam Brody 7-5, 6-7 (4) and 6-2.

Bagnis played a very good game against Koepfer, but could not close it.

Photo: Reuters

Also this Sunday, Nadia Podoroska (N.38) qualified for the second round of the Olympic tennis tournament after benefiting from the abandonment of her rival, Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (N.35).

At the time of the withdrawal of the European player, Podoroska had prevailed in the 'tie break' of the first set by 7-6 (4) and was 1-3 down in the second.

In the second round, Podoroska will face the Belgian Elise Mertens (N.17) or the Russian Ekaterina Aleksandrova (N.34)

Source: AFP

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