BRASILIA/STARNBERG, November 26, 2021
The 32-man-draw of the Aberto Da Republica has been whittled down to the final eight at the Iate Clube de Brasilia. Jaume Munar, No. 2 seed of the $52,080 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court tournament, rallied from a set down to overcome Santiago Rodriguez Taverna of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.
Munar converted four of his 10 break-point chances and won 54 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in just under two hours of play. The World No. 84 from Spain will next take on local favourite Thiago Seyboth Wild.
The No. 7 seed is the last Brazilian left in the singles draw and is seeking his second ATP Challenger career crown in addition to his maiden triumph on the ATP Tour in Santiago de Chile in early March last year. Seyboth Wild benefited from the retirement of his Spaniard Nicolas Alvarez Varona to book his spot in the quarterfinals. The 21-year-old from Rio de Janeiro was leading 7-6(4), 5-7, 4-2 when Alvarez Varona was forced to stop competing due to a left ankle injury.
“I expected a very tough match,” said Seyboth Wild. “Although I’ve never played against him, I’ve known him for a long time and I know he’s a great player. I did some mistakes in some important moments of the match, but I kept my energy high, my head in the right place and I’m happy with this victory here.”
Seyboth Wild and Munar will meet for the second time. “We had a well-fought match in Montevideo (2019). I ended up losing, but today I feel more mature than at that time and I believe it will be another good match,” the home favourite said.
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In other second-round action, Francisco Cerundolo also had to go the distance against fellow Argentine Genaro Alberto Olivieri, winning 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. T
he fourth seed sent down four aces and won 72 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after two hours and 25 minutes. Up next for Cerundolo will be Hernan Casanova of Argentina, who knocked off No. 5 seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 6-4, 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and 24 minutes.
