The semifinals of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro begin
,
with an important presence of Argentine tennis players.
In the first round,
Francisco Cerúndolo,
22nd in the world and the first racket of Argentina, and
Sebastián Báez
(30th) face each other at the Guga Kuerten stadium.
Fran looks recovered after a start to the year that was far from his best and has just defeated Serbian Dusan Lajovic in a two-hour and 23-minute battle 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Meanwhile, Seba showed character despite having the public against him and eliminated the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 1-6 and 6-2.
Following Cerúndolo-Báez will play
Mariano Navone,
who won his first ATP match this week.
And he was not one but three.
The most recent, a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory against Joao Fonseca, the 17-year-old local sensation.
Navone, 22, will face the British
Cameron Norrie.