Christian Garin succumbs to his doubts again and lets slip the victory at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro

Christian Garin (98th) found the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, a tournament he won in 2020 and it allowed him to make a quality leap onto the circuit and become one of the most dangerous brick-dust players in the world. A celebration that took place weeks before the world froze due to the pandemic and which showed one of the best versions of the Chilean. Three years later, the Tank, still with Andrés Schneiter on the bench, sought to rediscover his game on the same stage that gave him so much joy. However, You must continue this pilgrimage.

The insurmountable stumbling block was the Spaniard Pedro Martínez (76th), a tough and very combative opponent, especially on clay. However, in favor of the Tank there has been a recent and positive previous experience, which was registered a few weeks ago in Córdoba, a contest in which Garin was excited at times, but in which he ended up dissolving due to his doubts in an incredible match against Portuguese Joao Sousa. In the city of the carnival, this time the story was not favorable. SO, the 7-6 (0) and 6-4 was another blow to the Chilean’s confidence, in a duel in which once again possibilities slipped away one after another.

This is why the mission in Brazil had to be able to maintain consistency and intensity for as long as possible and not just for a few passages. The start was positive, because after winning his serve, in the next he fought and broke the Hispanic’s serve after coming from a 40-15. Then he kept his own and took a 3-0 lead against a rather erratic opponent. Everything seemed to be going well, but the ghosts were reappearing.

However, this lack of regularity reappeared: she went from a break point at 5-1 to a losing serve in games 7 and 9 passages in which Martínez took the initiative and played much deeper shots against a Garin who was losing intensity and with each passing time he became more boring with the environment.

Despite the bleak outlook, it had enough capacity to break out of the set point and then regain the break. Then he saved two breakpoints in the Games following, being much more aggressive in his strikes, which allowed him to let go of his forehand to open the field and finish with the backhand. The combination even resulted in him having a point to keep the first set, but the Spaniard managed to get out of trouble and force the deciding game.

The tiebreaker was a clear example of the problems Gago has faced over the past two and a half years. A sum of doubts, bad decisions and also successes of the rival made that the man born in Arica did not win a single point, letting slip the set after an hour and a half.

The second chapter started with the breakup of the national tennis player from the get-go, but again, that edge didn’t last long. In the next game, the Spaniard broke at zero and tied the game. Already, at that time, the former world number 17 could not find a way out. He declaimed and regretted every unforced error. “I didn’t hit anyone”, was heard in some passages of the meeting. On the other hand, a new breakup was beginning to complicate things too much.

Despite this, Garin gave himself another opportunity and went for the break that would keep him alive in the game. He became aggressive with his punches again and that got him the coveted prize, but that joy soon disappeared again. Martínez, moving him from side to side, broke again and sealed a very important victory for him, in a week in which, due to the classification gap, defends 2022 Chile Open title precisely the next season of the best national tennis player, who will have a new opportunity to regain confidence and start the long-awaited recovery on the circuit.