Cuevas On Track For Sao Paulo Three-Peat

Two-time defending Brasil Open champion Pablo Cuevas continued his reign in Sao Paulo on Thursday, storming into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Facundo Bagnis.

The third seed broke his opponent twice in each set to wrap up a comprehensive victory in 64 minutes. Cuevas improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head over Bagnis to 4-0, with all four wins coming in Brazil. The Uruguayan has defeated Bagnis in the second round of Sao Paulo for three consecutive years and also prevailed last year in the opening round of the Rio Open presented by Claro.

Cuevas will play sixth seed Diego Schwartman, who broke serve five times to record an identical 6-2, 6-2 scoreline over Gerald Melzer. Schwartzman has been on fire so far in Sao Paulo, dropping just six games in his first two matches. The Argentine leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Cuevas 2-1 and won their most recent match last month at the Australian Open.

Top seed and last year’s Sao Paulo runner-up Pablo Carreno Busta extended his dominance this month in South America by defeating local favourite Joao Souza 6-4, 6-2. The Brazilian briefly rallied from down 1-5 in the first set, but the Spaniard controlled play for the remainder of the match. He boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Souza to 2-1. All three of their matches have taken place in Brazil, with Souza winning in Sao Paulo in 2015 and Carreno Busta prevailing last week in Rio de Janeiro.

The Spaniard is now into his third consecutive ATP World Tour quarter-final. Carreno Busta recorded a semi-final showing at the Argentina Open (l. Dolgopolov) and runner-up finish last week in Rio de Janeiro (l. Thiem).

Next up for Carreno Busta is fifth seed Fabio Fognini, a 7-6(1), 7-6(3) winner over qualifier Alessandro Giannessi of Italy. The Italian is seeking his first semi-final in Sao Paulo since 2008. Carreno Busta leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 3-0, including two victories last year at the VTB Kremlin Cup and Paris Masters.