Coria Claws Into Cordoba Quarters

Federico Coria, the younger brother of former World No. 3 Guillermo Coria, reached his second ATP Tour quarter-final on Wednesday with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory against fellow Argentine Francisco Cerundolo at the Cordoba Open.

“I’m very happy, it’s very special for me. It was very hard to play against an Argentine and a friend. He has so much talent and I really admire him,” Coria said. “I started very nervous in the match, but with some errors by him I was able to play my game.”

The No. 95 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings, who reached the last eight at last year’s Rio Open presented by Claro, has proven a force on clay. Last September the 28-year-old qualified for his first ATP Masters 1000 main draw in Rome, where he reached the second round. Then the Argentine made the third round at Roland Garros on his tournament debut. 

In the second round on the Parisian terre battue, Coria upset Benoit Paire. The Argentine will face Paire again in the Cordoba quarter-finals if the Frenchman beats Chilean Nicolas Jarry Wednesday evening.

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Coria showed great form against Cerundolo, who has been on a tear on the ATP Challenger Tour. The World No. 135 had won 23 of his past 26 matches at all levels entering Wednesday’s action. In 2020, Cerundolo won three Challenger titles, matching #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz’s mark for the most at that level.

But Coria was the far better player behind his second serve in the final two sets, winning more than 71 per cent (15/21) of those points compared to 36 per cent for Cerundolo. Coria will try to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final.

Earlier in the day, Slovakian Jozef Kovalik beat Chilean qualifier Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and 12 minutes. Kovalik will next play eighth seed Federico Delbonis or qualifier Facundo Bagnis.