2011 Movistar Open, Juan Ignacio Chela vs Santiago Giraldo, preview
This week Santiago, Chile plays host to its 18th edition of the 2011 Movistar Open. An ATP 250 level event, this is the first tournament of the ATP Tour played on red clay.
Almost in its last stages, the event sees its four quarterfinals on Friday. Kicking off the round for the day in Cancha Central, is the fourth seeded Argentine, Juan Ignacio Chela, as he takes on the rising Colombian Santiago Giraldo.
In their first meeting ever, the quarterfinal is going to be a tough matchup to say the least. While Chela is a two time Challenger Tour titlist on this surface last year, Giraldo is the rising star of 2011 with the most year-to-date wins than any other
player in the quarterfinal round.
Starting his year at the Brisbane International, Giraldo made it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to South African Kevin Anderson. His next tournament on the tour was the 2011 Heineken Open in Auckland.
Going one step further, Giraldo made it to the final four upsetting fourth seeded Albert Montanes and seventh seeded Thomaz Bellucci along the way. He was ultimately ousted from the event by eventual champion, David Ferrer. The Colombian also made it to
the second round of the Australian Open before losing to the fifteenth seeded, Croat giant, Marin Cilic.
Standing at a year-to-date win loss mark of 6-3, Giraldo came into the event this week looking to not only extend it but also clinch a maiden ATP Tour title. Making his debut in Santiago, Giraldo played Argentine qualifier, Facundo Bagnis, in the opening
round.
Finding his footing late into the match, Giraldo bounced back from being one down in the set score to secure a three set win against Bagnis. The score line for the match was 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Giraldo’s second rung in the title ladder was the Russian Igor Andreev. Going into the match with a statistical disadvantage of trailing in the head to head score, Giraldo survived a mid match lapse to play his second three setter of the event. The world
number 57th ultimately prevailed 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-2 making his way into the final eight.
World number 39th Chela on the other hand hasn’t had such an impressive season so far. Opening his 2011 run at the Medibank International in Sydney, Chela’s first win of the year came against special exempt, Radek Stepanek as he defeated the Czech
in a three set win.
However, the Argentine was forced to exit from the event in the second round by fourth seeded, Viktor Troicki. His Grand Slam performance was equally abysmal. Unseeded in the draw, Chela was forced to exit the event in the first round by 22nd
seed, Michael Llodra.
Chela entered the event this week with a disappointing year-to-date mark of 1-2. The Argentine has since improved this to a 3-2 as he makes it into the quarterfinal without dropping a single set. One of the four to do away with a local in the opening clash,
Chela dismissed qualifier Jorge Aguilar in straight sets. Carrying his form into the next round, Chela enjoyed yet another straight sets win against Brazilian qualifier, Caio Zampieri losing only five games in the process.
Talking about playing Giraldo, Chela said, “Santiago Giraldo will be a very difficult opponent tomorrow. He’s young, on the rise, has had some good results lately and he really enjoys the conditions here. We will see what happens. I look forward to tomorrow”.
Prediction: Though Chela outranks Giraldo, the Colombian’s recent form suggests that he will be able to do away with the Argentine to secure a spot for himself in the final four.
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