Spain’s Fernando Verdasco beat Serbian Dusan Lejovic 7-6(4), 6-3 Tuesday to reach the round of 16 at the Rio Open clay court tournament. This was Verdasco’s first victory in an ATP 500 tournament since 2019.
Verdasco was a former top-10 player and is now ranked at 172nd due to a series injuries. For a spot in the quarterfinals, Verdasco will be playing Federico Coria from Argentina.
It is an important tournament for me. After the match, Verdasco expressed his sadness at not being able to play in a tournament like this for a while due to the injuries I sustained in my elbow and knee. “I want to play in the Grand Slams and be among the best. These weeks in South America will be a great help.”
Coria defeated Christian Garin, 5th seed, of Chile, 6-1.
On Tuesday, Albert Ramos Vinolas, eighth seed, defeated Juan Londero, Argentinian, 6-3, 6-4. In the next round, Pablo Andujar will take on the Spaniard.
Federico Delbonis of Argentina beat Daniel Galan of Colombia 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. He will be facing Carlos Alcaraz (18 years old), who is the 29th best ranked player on the circuit.
Italy’s sixth seed Lorenzo Sonego beat Laslo Dijere of Serbia by 6-2, 6-1. Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic is his round-of-16 opponent.
Another Italian, Fabio Fognini, overcame Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis 6-2, 6-4. On Wednesday, he will play fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
Brazilian fans were treated to a lot of joy following the victory of Thiago Monteiro over Sebastian Baez from Argentina 1-6,6-4,6-4. The favorite home crowd will face Matteo Berretini, Italy’s No. 1 seed. 6.
The tournament features Norway’s Casper Ruud (8th best-ranked).
