Guilherme Clezar loves playing in front of the home crowd in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian upset Marco Cecchinato, who is ranked more than ninety places above him 7-5, 6-4. It marked a stark contrast from their earlier meeting in the year, when Clezar failed to win a game against the Italian, going down 6-0, 6-0 in Caltanissetta. Yet the Brazilian prevailed to the delight of the home crowd. Clezar had endured a tough year, but was a finalist again as a wildcard in this event last year, when he went down to Diego Schwartzmann of Argentina.
His opponent on Thursday will also hail from Argentina, second seed Guido Pella, who beat Radu Albot in three sets. Pella suffered from a poor first set, but recovered to lose just four more games in the last two sets. The final score was 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Pella and Clezar now have a buffer, both knowing that whatever the outcome of their match on Thursday, they will both still have the opportunity to progress to the semi-finals.
The same cannot be said for Albot and Cecchinato, whose meeting on the same day now takes on added importance, as the loser of the match will likely be eliminated from the competition.
Picks for Thursday Group B: Pella vs Clezar, Cecchinato vs Albot. (Picks in bold).
In Group A top seed Paolo Lorenzi made a winning if unconvincing start, by beating Farrukh Dustov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Things had at one point looked bleak for the Italian at a set and a break down, but recovered to make a winning start to the tournament. The same fate was enjoyed by Inigo Cervantes, who also endured a tough match against Daniel Munoz-De La Nava. Cervantes did eventually defeat his compatriot by the close scoreline of 4-6, 7-6, 7-5.
Lorenzi will now face Cervantes with a little less pressure on both men. Munoz-De La Nava will still fancy his chances of progressing if hescan beat the underdog Farrukh Dustov, who in turn can take heart from his battling display against Lorenzi. Very much all still to play for in this group.
Picks for Thursday Group A: Munoz-De La Nava vs Dustov, Lorenzi vs Cervantes.
