Schwartzman Wins Argentine Battle In Los Cabos

Third seed Diego Schwartzman booked his place in the final of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex in Los Cabos, but it came at the expense of a close friend. The 26-year-old defeated second seed and fellow Argentine Guido Pella 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in an entertaining semi-final on Friday.

It was clear that Schwartzman and Pella’s match would be competitive after 45 minutes were needed to complete the first six games, but the third seed grabbed the first break of the match at 3-2 in the opening set. The slight advantage was all Schwartzman needed. Pella saved four set points on his serve at 2-5, but Schwartzman held in the next game and took the early advantage.

Pella was far from discouraged. The second seed responded brilliantly as he raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set and ultimately levelled the match. But in another drastic momentum shift, it was Schwartzman who jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the decider.

The third seed continued to apply pressure in his return games, racking up 18 break points on the night and converting four. A forehand sent long by Pella on Schwartzman’s first match point wrapped up play after two hours and 18 minutes. Schwartzman’s win evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Pella at 2-2.

Schwartzman seeks his first ATP Tour title of the year after finishing runner-up in February in Buenos Aires (l. to Cecchinato). He also defeated Kei Nishikori to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in May at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Awaiting him in the championship match is fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz or seventh-seeded Moldovan Radu Albot. Schwartzman has never played Albot, but is even in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Fritz at 1-1. The American won their most recent match this May at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.