Winning is difficult, but even more difficult is winning after being champion and that is what
Facundo Díaz Acosta
achieved this Tuesday at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro.
The 23-year-old Argentine, winner of the Argentina Open last Sunday, did not relax after lifting the first title of his career and beat triple Grand Slam champion
Stan Wawrinka
in his debut in Rio: it was 7-5 and 6-4 in one hour and 54 minutes of play in a day that started delayed by rain.
Díaz Acosta had just one victory on the big tennis circuit before the start of the South American round of tournaments on clay, but in recent weeks he proved right to those who pointed to him as a promise since he won two medals ( gold in doubles with Sebastián Báez and silver in singles) at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. There were years of work in tennis, physical and mental that are now bearing fruit.
He reached the quarterfinals in Córdoba, swept Buenos Aires after receiving a
wildcard
and now
reached his sixth win in a row.
6 straight wins.
12 straight sets.
Who's gonna stop him?
😤
Still riding off the high from Buenos Aires, @Facudiazacosta takes out Wawrinka 7-5 6-4 in his Rio opener!#RioOpen10Anos pic.twitter.com/kJAJjhaJPH
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 21, 2024
He was 5-2 down in the first set, but never gave up and went from low to high to win five consecutive
games
and win that first set.
That streak, in reality, was eight games in a row because the La Lucila player started the second with two quick breaks that seemed to settle the dispute.
However, Stan fought, leaned on the audience and created some suspense, although he wasn't going to catch up.
Finally, the victory was in the hands of the man of the moment, lucid in the important moments of the
match
.
In his press conferences at Lawn Tennis, even before shouting champion, Facu stressed the importance of maintaining oneself and not settling for what has been achieved.
At the moment, he's making it.
He makes few mistakes, he has patience to work the points supported by his consistency from the baseline and makes his rivals desperate.
Wawrinka was his last victim.
He will now face
Sebastián Báez
, his executioner in Córdoba and who left the Frenchman Corentin Moutet on the road 6-4 and 6-3.
What Facu Díaz Acosta is playing 🇦🇷
He comes from being champion in Buenos Aires, he went to Rio and defeated Stan Wawrinka in the first round 7-5 and 6-4.
GREAT MOMENT 🚀pic.twitter.com/tjsTVFPDnN
— Tennis Time (@Tiempodetenis1) February 21, 2024
The one who gave the negative grade for the Argentine tennis players was
Pedro Cachín,
who fell to the local Felipe Meligeni Alves, from the classification
,
by 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3.
The Cordoban from Bel Ville, 74th in the world,
has accumulated ten consecutive defeats
between Challengers,
qualys
and main draw matches at the ATP level and cannot raise his head.
His last victory was in October of last year.
Meligeni Alves could next meet
Carlos Alcaraz,
the world number two who will debut with Thiago Monteiro.
Meanwhile,
Federico Coria
and
Mariano Navone,
rivals to close the action on court 4, secure a new Argentine in the second round.