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Schwartzman and Podoroska, the only joys of Argentine tennis in Tokyo 2020

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The box singles of Olympic tennis opened this morning with mixed luck for the Argentines, since the “Peques” Nadia Podoroska Y Diego Schwartzman they were the only ones who could get around the first wheel, where they stayed Federico Coria, Facundo Bagnis and Francisco Cerúndolo.

Rosario Podoroska, 24, and world number 38, gave the first joy when he took advantage of the abandonment of the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, who presented a feverish picture and could not continue when the score was 7-6 (4) and 1-3 in favor of Argentina, after 90 minutes of play at the Ariake complex in Tokyo.

For Podoroska it is her first olympic experience and will collide in the next round with the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 34 in the world.

“It was a tough match and with a very hot first set in the tie-break, where I was able to do well and in the second it felt much more. A pity for her (Putintseva) because the conditions were tough,” he said.

Already at the dawn of Argentina, it was “Peque” Schwartzman who sealed his passage to the second round, with a victory from lowest to highest against the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (122°).

The porteño, 13 in the world ranking, was imposed with partials of 7-5 and 6-4 on court 2 of the olympic complex, under a intense heat that promoted the criticism of the Argentine tennis player towards the organization.

“It is ridiculous to start play at 11 in the morning with 37 thermal. It could be started a little later when the sun goes down a bit and there is more wind. It is a pity that they do not take that into account in a tournament that is played every four years, “Schwartzman threw, in statements to TyC Sports, while waiting to meet his rival in the second round who will come out of the winner of the cross between the Czech Tomas Machac ( 145 °) or the Portuguese Joao Sousa (137 °).

Rods presented him with greater wear than could be carried out in the professional circuit, but the lack of competition on cement and having a rival in front of him with nothing to lose, are arguments that the porteño used to explain his performance.

“There are many reasons: had not played on concrete for more than two months, in Miami; I did it against a rival that I did not know and it was my Olympic debut, “he stressed.” At first I was tense, more than making mistakes had no impact. In the second set I could improve but he also played well. I think the most positive thing was having my best moments at the close of each set “, summarized in dialogue with TyC Sports.

The bad news came due to the falls of Federico Coria from Rosario, Facundo Bagnis from Santa Fe and Francisco Cerúndolo from Buenos Aires, with different nuances but valuable contributions thinking about the future.

Coria (62nd in the world ranking and 29 years old) and Bagnis (80th) fought but failed in the key moments of their matches against the Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin and german Dominik Koepfer, with partials of 7-6 (4) and 7-5, and 3-6, 6-3 and 7-5, respectively.

Cerúndolo, 22 years old and 116 in the ATP ranking, who qualified for Tokyo 2020 at the last minute due to the loss of the Swiss Roger Federer, played more than three hours under intense heat but could not with the British Liam Broady, who beat him 7-5, 6-7 (4) and 6-2.

Argentine tennis (which won five medals throughout Olympic history) had already suffered the eliminations of the two couples it presented in the men’s doubles table, also in the first round: Schwartzman-Bagnis and Horacio Zeballos-Andrés Molteni.

Source: NA

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