Albert Ramos debuted at the AnyTech365 Andalucía Open with a hard-won 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3 victory against Ricardas Berankis, Leathery 30-year-old Belarusian 88th in the world who had eliminated Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the first round.
The Catalan imposed his best preparation on land, since he made the Argentine clay tour between February and March, ending in Córdoba and semifinal in Buenos Aires. Later, already on hard court, he had no luck in Dubai when he fell against Jeremy Chardy at the premiere. In Marbella his better adaptation to the surface, the heat and the humidity, not excessive, was noted against a rival who had only played on hard court, and little, in 2021.
Even so, it was difficult for Ramos to get rid of a Berankis who put up a lot of resistance, especially in the second set when he equalized the match. Albert armed himself with patience and did not despair at the often lucky blows of the Vilna-born player. The public supported him until in the eighth game of the third sleeve he achieved the final break. Thus he avenged himself for the defeat endorsed by the Eastern European tennis player nine years ago in Stockholm. In the quarterfinals they will face an opponent who seemed affordable, the Slovak Norbert Gombos (30 years and 99th), but that eliminated the eighth seed, the Argentine Federico Delbonis, by 5-7, 7-6 (4) and 7-6 (1). “The sensations were not easy, because I had not played for three weeks. I suffered a lot,” said Ramos, who prefers “not to generate expectations”. “Let's see if the things I'm practicing come out during the games,” he added.
Carreño does not fail against Vilella
Pablo Carreño, number one seed of the tournament, started it with a victory against another Spaniard, Mario Vilella, who came to the event more rolled after having participated and reached the semifinals last week at the Challenger in Marbella, which was also played on the courts of the Puente Romano Tennis Club. After a very close first set, the Asturian released himself to sentence 7-6 (2) and 6-3 in 1h: 37. In the quarterfinals the Korean Soonwoo Kwon awaits him, who was able, and forcefully, with the Argentine Facundo Bagnis (6-1 and 6-3).
Carreño had not played since he fell on March 16 to the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in Dubai, still limping from the abdominal discomfort he suffered at the Australian Open and that they forced him to retire during his third-round match against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. He missed Montpellier, Rotterdam and Doha before Dubai, and then did not play the Miami Masters 1,000. This Wednesday was a “very important” test for him, already on clay, and he passed it without too much trouble. “It's good for me to gain confidence and I've seen myself with a very good tennis level. I think I'll get better,” said Pablo, which is not “totally hassle free”. “Surely I will begin to feel some, but they will not be serious.” In Marbella, the Gijon has the opportunity to climb some position in the ranking, although what interests him “is to level up and improve”. “If I do that, I will add and be higher. Also, I will have more options in other tournaments.”
Alcaraz-Feliciano, generational duel
The stellar match of eighth on Thursday will be starred not before 17:30 (Teledeporte) Carlos Alcaraz and Feliciano López, 17 and 39 years old, respectively, 22 apart. The man from Toledo throws flowers whenever he can to the Murcian and, in fact, invited him to the Mutua Madrid Open making use of his position as director of the tournament. At 12:00, in the opening match of Manolo Santana, Alejandro Davidovich will face Lithuanian Ivashka. And on track 1, not before 15:00, a clash between the Italian Mager and the Danish Ruud.
Table, results and calendar.