Third semifinal for Ramos in 2021 and 2nd in Munar's career

Albert Ramos suffered this Thursday at the AnyTech365 Andalucía Open to beat Norbert Gombos (30 years and 99th in the world) and continue the good streak that has led him to reach at least the semifinals in the three clay court tournaments he has played in 2021. He was a finalist in Córdoba and a semifinalist in Buenos Aires, a success that he repeats in Marbella after coming back a game that he had dominated in the first and that was complicated: 6-7 (4), 7-5 and 6-4 in 2h: 47. Victory has a double prize because it gives you the opportunity to face the first seed on Saturday, Pablo Carreño, who passed over the South Korean Soonwoo Kwon in a duel that barely had history because the Gijonian won it by 6-4 and 6-0 in 64 minutes (“I have no room for maneuver here because I am the seeded player,” explained the man from Gijón). At the same time, it allows you to move up one place in the ranking, up to 46.

It was the first confrontation of Ramos and Gombos in a final draw, although they had met before in the previous one in Munich 2014, with victory for the Spanish also in three sets. The rain, although not very copious, appeared on the Malaga coast and the game had to be stopped for 40 minutes, midway through the first heat, because the lines of the court became dangerous for the players. Albert had been placed with a break advantage and even had a set point to the rest with 5-3 that disappeared. Then he lost his serve and in the tiebreaker Gombos was better.

From there, the Catalan was already superior, although he had to work hard to defeat a stubborn rival and that he had been at the Puente Romano Club for longer than he because he also played last week's Challenger, although he fell to the first exchange. Ramos started the quarter with a 2-0, but had to row until 7-5 before the reaction of his opponent. In the third set he no longer gave up his serve and broke Gombos' just for 6-4. “I played a very good match and I am happy with my level and for the victory,” said Albert, who has played three sets in 11 of his last 12 matches.

Munar is a wall

With a tremendous display of defenses, Jaume Munar ended the good career that Ilya Ivashka had in Marbella. The Mallorcan, who has recovered the competitiveness that made him a difficult player to beat, especially on land, came back to win by 6-7 (4), 6-4 and 6-4 in 2h: 53 and reach the second ATP semi-finals of his career. He does so three years after playing those of Kitzbuhel, also on clay, and in which he fell against the Slovakian Martin Klizan. His rival will be Alcaraz, who swept Ruud in the game that closed a day that was delayed because of the rain.

Munar, 23, had never crossed paths with the 27th and 115th Belarusian in the world, who has tennis to be higher, but perhaps lacks patience at key moments, especially against rivals, who like the Spanish, do not give a ball for lost and put almost all within the limits of the track. It was not easy for Jaume to overwhelm Ivashka, who maintained an idyll with the lines for much of the clash. Nor did the flamenco party that he had set up on the outskirts of the dancefloor help him, something that one can frequently find on the Malaga coast. But little by little he calmed down and after the anger of losing the first set in the tiebreaker, he arrived, squeezed the rest and jealously guarded his serves in the second. Thus he leveled the game and took it forward with suffering in a third leg in which he did lose his service once. His second break, for 4-3, was already definitive, although he had to lift two break points in the last game. With this triumph, Munar rises four places in the ranking, to 91, still far from the 52 he occupied in 2019. “I am very good at a competitive level and at a mental level, because I work with a psychologist,” explained Santanyi. It looks “even better” than when it was number 52 in the world. “Tomorrow will be tough, we'll see, against Carlos it will be a very nice match with a boy who is a great promise and with a great level of tennis.”

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