Dominic Thiem defeated Cristian Garin in straight sets three years ago at his home tournament in Vienna. On Tuesday evening, Garin returned the favour.
The Chilean ousted the former World No. 3 6-2, 7-6(2) to reach the second round of the Movistar Chile Open, where he lifted the trophy in 2021. The former champion will face third seed Sebastian Baez for a place in the quarter-finals.
“It was a very tough match. I think we both played well the second set. The first set I started very aggressive. I started making shots from the beginning and I think that was the difference,” Garin said. “Second set I had a lot of break points, I couldn’t make it. But I stayed there serving well, so very happy the way that I played.”
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The last time Garin stepped into the winners’ circle on the ATP Tour was in Santiago two years ago. The five-time tour-level titlist made a good start to claiming a sixth against Thiem. The home favourite did not face a break point in his one-hour, 43-minute victory.
“It was sad because it was the year that [there] was no crowd,” Garin said of the year he triumphed in Chile. “So I hope to repeat it again in my career. It is one of my favourite weeks in the year. I enjoy it from the beginning until the end, so I will fight every match to try to make [it] as [far] as possible.”
Photo Credit: Aljaro/Binder
Laslo Djere maintained his perfect first-round record for 2023 with a comfortable victory against Joao Sousa earlier in the day.
The sixth-seeded Serbian prevailed 6-3, 6-2 at the clay-court ATP 250 and has now won all six opening matches he has played at tour level this season. Djere broke Sousa’s serve three times and did not face a break point in his 78-minute triumph, which booked him a second-round assignment against Italian qualifier Riccardo Bonadio.
Both of Djere’s ATP Tour titles (Rio de Janeiro in 2019 and Sardinia in 2020) were won on clay. The 27-year-old is competing at the Santiago tournament for the second time after he reached the quarter-finals in 2021.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Dusan Lajovic also enjoyed comprehensive first-round victories on Tuesday in the Chilean capital. Etcheverry took out former World No. 9 Fabio Fognini 6-1, 7-6(1) for a personal-best fourth tour-level win of the year. The 23-year-old next takes on second seed Francisco Cerundolo.
Lajovic defeated qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-1, 6-3, the pair’s second meeting in three weeks after the Serbian also prevailed in straight sets in Buenos Aires. Lajovic takes on qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Thiago Monteiro also reached the second round with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 upset of fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The Brazilian claimed a topsy-turvy deciding set featuring five breaks of serve to earn a second-round meeting with Facundo Bagnis or Marco Cecchinato.
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