It was one of the most even match ups in the opening round of the Argentina Open and it didn’t disappoint. Federico Delbonis defeated Fabio Fognini for the first time in their third meeting 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 and booked a meeting with another fiery character in the second round: Nicolas Almagro.
“It was more a mental battle than a tennis one. There were lots of ups and downs from both of us, perhaps because we know each other very well”, claimed Delbonis after defeating the Italian, whose partner Flavia Pennetta was watching on from the stands.
Renzo Olivo, who earned an impressive win over Fernando Verdasco in Quito last week, took the all-Argentine clash against Facundo Bagnis 7-6, 7-5 in what was “a very tough fight” where “the key was to look for the win and I tried to keep my cool at all times” according to the victor. Olivo will now have the colossal task of taking on three time champion David Ferrer.
Pablo Cuevas also advanced with a good 7-5, 6-2 win against Albert Ramos, as did Gastao Elias (d. Muñoz de la Nava), Dusan Lajovic (d. Facundo Arguello) and Dominic Theim (d. Pablo Carreño).
