Top-Seeded Schwartzman Advances To Cordoba Semi-finals

World No. 14 Diego Schwartzman has never lifted an ATP Tour trophy at home in Argentina. But the top seed is now just two wins away from doing so in Cordoba.

Schwartzman beat Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0, 7-6(0) in one hour and 40 minutes on Friday evening to reach the semi-finals of the Cordoba Open, an ATP 250 event held on red clay. The three-time tour-level titlist will face Serbian fourth seed Laslo Djere in the last four.

Schwartzman now leads Ramos-Vinolas 5-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, and he has won all 10 sets he has played against the lefty. Ramos-Vinolas is a tough clay-court player, proving as much by reaching the final of the 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, an ATP Masters 1000 event. But the Argentine rode the support of his home crowd, saving the two break points he faced to move on.

The 27-year-old last reached an ATP Tour final just more than three months ago in Vienna, falling short against Dominic Thiem. Schwartzman earned his third tour-level trophy last July in Los Cabos.

His next opponent, Djere, clawed past defending champion Juan Ignacio Londero 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) after two hours and 43 minutes. The Serbian struck 14 aces and won 82 per cent of his first-serve points to squeak by the home favourite.

“I had no extra pressure… he won last year, he had to defend many points. I know what it can be because it is what awaits me in Rio,” Djere said. “The public was on his side and probably pushed him through difficult times. I tried to feed from people too ,and I am very happy with today’s victory.”

Djere made his biggest breakthrough last February, when he won the Rio Open presented by Claro. Schwartzman beat Djere last year in Cincinnati in their only previous ATP Head2Head match.

“To play two days against Argentines, I’m not very happy about that,” Djere joked. “I expect even more people tomorrow in favour of Diego. Today I could handle it and it is important that I stay focussed.”

On the bottom half of the draw, third-seeded wild card Cristian Garin rallied past sixth seed Pablo Cuevas 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 after one hour and 57 minutes. Garin won his first two ATP Tour trophies on clay last year in Houston and Munich.

The Chilean will next face Slovakian Andrej Martin, who eased past Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 31 minutes. Martin is pursuing his first tour-level title.