Garin On Santiago Collision Course With Cerundolo
Top seed Cristian Garin learned his path to his fifth ATP Tour trophy – and his first on home soil – following the Chile Dove Men+Care Open draw ceremony on Saturday.
Chile’s top player will take the court at the second edition of the ATP 250 event seeking his first title on home soil, but he’ll have to hit the ground running as he contests his third tournament of the year. The Chilean, No. 22 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, has reached all five of his previous finals on clay (4-1).
Into the second round with a bye, Garin anchors the top half of the draw and will begin his Santiago campaign against Jozef Kovalik or a qualifier. He will aim for a stronger showing in front of his home fans this year, after being forced to retire in the quarter-finals in 2020 due to a back injury.
Garin could face No. 3 seed Pablo Andujar in the semi-finals. Andujar, who reached the Argentina Open quarter-finals, leads an interesting section of the draw that includes Cordoba Open champion Juan Manuel Cerundolo. Into Santiago with a wild card, the 19-year-old will be making his third ATP Tour main draw appearance as he begins against fellow wild card Gonzalo Lima.
Juan Manuel’s elder brother Francisco Cerundolo is also in action. The 22-year-old is into his first ATP Tour final in Buenos Aires and has received a special exemption into the draw. Should he advance past Andrej Martin, he could face No. 8 seeded countryman Federico Delbonis in the quarter-finals.
Francisco Cerundolo has landed in the same section as No. 2 seed Benoit Paire. The Frenchman headlines the bottom half of the draw, which includes fifth seed Frances Tiafoe and fourth seed Laslo Djere.