The main stadium of Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis
looks different
.
The Guillermo Vilas court sports a new tubular grandstand, which was installed above the east stalls and which brought the total capacity of the venue to almost 6 thousand people, anticipating a large audience for the
Argentina Open 2024
.
This edition of the contest, which will begin its main draw this Monday, is one of the most attractive in recent years, if we talk about proper names.
And one fact is enough to corroborate it: for the first time since 2010, there will be three Grand Slam champions in the main draw:
Carlos Alcaraz
,
Stan Wawrinka
and
Marin Cilic
.
It is true that of that trio, only the Murcian, number two in the world and top favorite, is at his best;
but the Swiss, 57th at 38 years old, and the Croatian, 1042nd and one of the organization's guests, promise to attract fans by their simple presence in a tournament that will also feature six players from the top 30 and nine located among the best 50 in the classification.
It had been 14 years since the Buenos Aires ATP had received so many Major winners.
In that 2010 edition , Juan Carlos Ferrero
,
Carlos Moyá
and
Gaston Gaudio
played on the clay of the
BALTC
.
El
Mosquito
, champion of
Roland Garros 2003
, retired in 2012 and current coach of Alcaraz, was one of the great protagonists: he arrived as second favorite (he was 22nd in the ranking) and took the title by beating his compatriot in the final
David Ferrer
.
Moyá, who won the French "grande" in 1998, was returning from a break of almost a year due to a hip injury.
He received a
wild card
(he was ranked 507th in the world rankings) and lost in the second round to
Horacio Zeballos
.
Nine months later, he announced his retirement.
And Gaudio, champion in Paris in 2004, also entered the draw thanks to an invitation (he was 174th) and said goodbye in the debut against
Cebolla
.
It was the last main draw he played at
ATP
level , although he only officially hung up his racket in 2011.
In recent years, there have been four editions with Grand Slam champions in the draw.
Those of 2015 and 2016, played by
Rafael Nadal
, then owner of 14 "big" crowns (today he has 22).
The Spaniard, top favorite on both occasions (he was top 5), established himself in his first participation and reached the semis in the second.
In 2022, Juan Martín Del Potro
, champion in New York in 2009, appeared
, who was invited by the organizers to return to the courts after almost three years.
The Tandil native - who had not played since June 2019 due to the recurring problem in his right knee - said goodbye to him in front of his audience in an emotional match that he lost to
Federico Delbonis
in the first round.
Well people, HE just arrived 🤩 pic.twitter.com/8f9LYXI5Zm
— IEB+ Argentina Open (@ArgentinaOpen) February 11, 2024
And last year, Alcaraz landed for the first time in Buenos Aires as the current
US Open
champion and top favorite, and ended up lifting the trophy.
The Murcian, who now also has the Wimbledon 2023
trophy in his showcases
, is today faced with a scenario similar to that of the last edition and is the great candidate to win the traditional winner's mate.
Wawrinka and Cilic, meanwhile, arrive at different times.
The Swiss, Olympic gold in doubles with
Roger Federer
in
Beijing 2008
, won three "big ones" in the height of the
Big 3
(which makes those consecrations even more impressive), the
Australian Open 2014
,
Roland Garros 2015
and the
US Open 2016
.
Two surgeries on his left knee in 2017 and two on his left foot in 2021 have prevented him from competing regularly in recent years.
Resilient, he was recovering his level and, one month after turning 39, he is the most "veteran" of the top 100 and continues to fight.
Wawrinka in training at the BALTC.
Photo Twitter @ArgentinaOpen
He will play for the fourth time in Buenos Aires, after his performances in 2011, 2012 (semi-finals in both) and 2013 (final), when he had not yet won his first Major.
The Croatian, champion at
Flushing Meadows
in 2014, is coming off a nightmare 2023.
After starting the year in the top 20, he suffered a serious injury to his right knee during training at the
Pune
tournament , in the first week of the season.
He had to undergo surgery and needed 12 months to recover (he had a failed comeback in Umag in July).
At 35 years old, he will compete in the Buenos Aires tournament for the first time, in which he had signed up in 2018, but ended up withdrawing due to injury.
Cilic has a special connection with Argentine tennis, which makes his presence at the BALTC more attractive these days.
Because he was one of the members of the team that lost the
2016 Davis
Cup final in Zagreb, in which the albiceleste team won the
Silver Salad Bowl
for the first time.
See this post on Instagram
A post shared by Marin Čilić (@marincilic)
Also, because he had a career parallel to that of Del Potro.
They were born five days apart, they shared the court since they were juniors and forged a beautiful friendship.
And destiny marked very similar paths for them: both of them, 1.98 tall and with powerful drives, reached 4th place in the ranking and won their only "big ones" in New York.
Three top 20 and a trio of Argentines among the top favorites
If the presence of these three Grand Slam champions does not end up seducing the public, perhaps the highly competitive team that the Buenos Aires event will have will do so, which continues to dream of one day moving up a category (going from 250 to 500, an opportunity that lost at the end of last year).
Behind Alcaraz on the list of favorites, two other players from the top 20 appear. The British
Cameron Norrie
, 19th, finalist last year and trained by the Argentine
Facundo Lugones
, and the Chilean
Nicolás Jarry
, 20th and in the best moment of his career.
The view of the Guillermo Vilas court from the new grandstand of the BALTC main stadium.
Photo Twitter @ArgentinaOpen
Among the top eight seeds are also
Francisco Cerúndolo
(22nd),
Sebastián Báez
(26th) and
Tomás Etcheverry
(29th), the best-ranked Argentines and great young talents.
And with the Serbian
Laslo Djere
(35th), the Frenchman
Arthur Fils
(36th, 19 years old and one of the revelations of last season) and the Austrian
Sebastian Ofner
(38th), nine of the best 50 will play in the BALTC of the world.
With that level of team, the organizers bet big and decided to increase the capacity of the Palermo club's main stadium.
With the tubular grandstand that was installed temporarily (with seats, not planks, for greater comfort of the public), 850 seats were added, bringing the total capacity to 5,750 people.
The negative?
The high cost of tickets, which tripled (and more) last year's values.
To watch the matches on Monday night, for example, the cheapest one (in those new stands) costs 15 thousand pesos.
But if you want to watch the final on Sunday, you will have to spend at least 52 thousand (with the most expensive tickets at 275 thousand).
Three Grand Slam champions - at different times in their careers, but equally attractive to fans - and a group of talented rackets, the attractions of an Argentina Open that promises good tennis in a setting that was specially prepared for the occasion.
The matches of the first day
Three Argentines and two Grand Slam champions will take to the court at the start of the main draw of the Argentina Open.
#IEBMasArgOpen2024 🏆
Order of play |
Monday, February 12
Carnival Monday and we are going to have a tennis carnival 🥳 pic.twitter.com/Mwz2L9J2Wm
— IEB+ Argentina Open (@ArgentinaOpen) February 11, 2024
The action of the daytime session will open with the clash between
Facundo Díaz Acosta
, 95th and one of the organization's guests, and the German
Daniel Altmaier
, 52nd, which will be played at 1:30 p.m.
Next,
Marin Cilic
, another who entered thanks to a wild card, and Serbian
Laslo Djere
, seventh seed, will take to the court.
Not before 6:30 p.m.,
Stan Wawrinka
, 57th, and
Pedro Cachin
(73rd) will raise the curtain on the night session.
And not before 8 p.m.,
Tomás Etcheverry
, sixth seed, will go for a place in the round of 16 against the Spanish
Roberto Carballes Baena
, 65th.
All matches will be televised by
TyC Sports
.