With big stars, the Chile Open marks the end of the South American clay court tour

This Monday starts at San Carlos de Apoquindo the Movistar Chile Open, with the premiere of the main draw. The site of Las Condes has become the headquarters of this sport in the country and will host for the fourth consecutive time the most important tennis tournament at the national level.

The competition will end the South American clay court tour in style and will bring a special touch to the hot Santiago afternoons typical of late summer. A bigger stadium, new cameras and technological advances are some of the secrets that mark the development of the championship, where the extension of the capacity to five thousand spectators stands out.

There were 16 tennis players looking for a place in the main boardHowever, the qualifying phase started without luck for the only two nationals, Tomas Barrios (183rd) and gonzalo llamas (363º), who were eliminated in the first round . The chillanejo fell to Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (108th), 6-1, 3-6 and 5-7, and could not replicate what was done in Brazil. Meanwhile, the Lion, who had received a joker to face the previous phase, he had to give up his duel against the Italian Riccardo Bonadio (182nd) ​​after suffering from back pain.

experienced a different situation Nicolas Jarry (87th), as he received a s special exemption (SE) to directly play the main draw of the competition . Indeed, the Chilean reached the semi-final of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz (2nd), and could not play the quality in Chile. He will seek his first victory against the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (77th).

Invitations for the main draw consist of Christian Garin (100º), Alejandro Tabilo (186º) and Dominique Thiem (99th) . The latter, a pupil of Nicolas Massú, is one of the great attractions of the tournament, since he is a former world number three and winner of the US Open.

Main draw components are one of the charms of competition on clay. The large number of numbers is a clear incentive that generates striking interest in the Chile Open which, due to the date and the proximity of other tournaments, has always struggled to capture the attention of players.

The ATP 250 in Santiago will feature figures of the stature of first seed Lorenzo Musetti (18th), and former top ten Diego Schwartzman (35th) and Fabio Fognini (81st), in addition to the Austrian . “It’s the box that closed with the best ranking . There is a variety between rankings and ages; well-known personalities and others who are looking for points. We compare Peque Schwartzman, who has a history, to Musetti, who excelled in a short time.” said Catalina Fillol, the tournament director, a few days ago.

Indeed, they managed to put together a table with 21 tennis players who are among the first in the ATP rankings , unheard of for this tournament and a real luxury for a circuit that is not used to having the stars of the circuit. We could count on one more, but the Spaniard Bernabé Zapata is injured at the last minute.

The action in the main draw begins during the current day. This Monday, February 27, will begin the round of 16, for which three national tennis players have already qualified. The delivery of the invitations was a real complexity, since no one entered directly and, having given one to Thiem, there were only two available.

Finally, it was Garin and Tabilo who received them, while Jarry and Barrios were relegated to play the quality. The ariqueño had the opportunity to participate directly in the main board despite a notorious and considerable slowdown in his career, where he was even outside the top 100 again after several years.

In Rio, the Chilean fell in the first round to the Spaniard Pedro Martínez (117th), who will defend the title he won last year. However, the Tank will look for the rebound and fight for the contest he won in 2021. Now he will face Thiem in the first round .

Tabilo, meanwhile, presents another panorama. With fewer trips on the circuit, the Toronto native, who last year was ranked 64th in the world, is also far from his best time and ranking. Anyway, Jano will be looking to get strong on the clay courts of San Carlos de Apoquindo and continue what he did in 2022 when he reached the semi-finals. In the first place, the Chilean will come up against the Spaniard Jaume Munar (66th) this evening in prime time (8:30 p.m.).

For its part, Jarry is the one with the highest ranking on the Las Condes site . The first national racket is going through the best moment after returning to the circuit. Without a doubt, He is coming off his best week in years after reaching the semi-final in Rio de Janeiro, managing to qualify for this phase for the first time in an ATP 500 tournament. .

In Brazil, the Chilean, after a long pre-season preparation, achieved his best performance and He beat Musetti, Martínez and Sebastián Báez (35th), all participating in the Santiago contest. Nico lost in the round of 16 against Carlos Alcaraz (2nd), in an intense duel . Despite his fall, the 27-year-old athlete fell from 139th place in the standings to 86th place. From now on, he will face one of the South American tennis figures, the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (77th), and will seek his first victory in the main draw of the national championship.