Mexico’s Arturo Salazar lifted back-to-back PSA World Tour titles
for the first time in his career after overcoming defending champion
Robertino Pezzota in the final of the Tour de las Americas -
Paraguay Open, PSA M10 tournament held in Asuncion.
World No.57 Salazar had triumphed at the Resistencia Open in
Argentina just a week earlier, downing Pezzota in the last eight
there, and continued his fine form into the Paraguay Open as he
dropped just a single game, against Ignacio Gutierrez in round one,
en route to the final.
Pezzota, meanwhile, had battled all the way through qualifying and
defeated Brazil’s Diego Gobbi, number three seed Martin Knight and
Edgar Zayas to ensure that he would face Salazar for the title.
The opening game between the pair featured a series of long,
punishing rallies as both players tried to move each other off the
’T’ and into the front of the court. With the scores level at 5-5
though, Salazar pulled away and rattled off six points in succession
to go a game ahead.
Salazar was volleying well and dipped into a wide range of shots
from his impressive repertoire as he quickly powered to the second
game to double his lead. The 28-year-old was particularly proficient
on his backhand side, and some sublime drops and trickle boasts saw
him command the third game to build up a number of match balls.
Pezzota fought back to 10-8, but it proved to be in vain as Salazar
took the match at the next attempt courtesy of an 11-5 11-5, 11-8
scoreline to capture his 10th PSA World Tour title.
An exciting opening day of action at the Tour de las Americas –
Paraguay Open, PSA M10 tournament saw all four of the top seeded
players – headed by title favourite Christopher Gordon – seal their
places in the quarter-final.
Gordon lined up against Paraguayan wildcard Nicolas Caballero in his
first round encounter and the duo traded a number of high-octane
points in a blistering start to the match that saw Gordon prevail on
the tie-break in game one. From there, the United States No.2
shifted up the gears to claim the victory in straight games, with a
13-11, 11-7, 11-5 scoreline enabling him to progress to the last
eight.
Mexico’s Edgar Zayas lies in wait for Gordon in the next round after
he upset number seven seed Jonas Daehler, eventually taking the
match 11-9 in a dramatic fifth game finale.
World No.57 Arturo Salazar, who defeated Gordon last week in the
final of the Resistencia Open, remains on course to lift
back-to-back PSA World Tour titles for the first time in his career
after sweeping past Argentine qualifier Ignacio Gutierrez. His
reward is a meeting with Juan Gomez Dominguez in the quarter-final
after he dispatched Leandro Romiglio in three.
Fourth seed Eric Galvez joins his two compatriots, Zayas and
Salazar, in the next stage of the competition courtesy of a 3-0
triumph against Francesco Marcantonio, which has set up a
quarter-final clash with Jamaica’s Christopher Binnie, who saw off
Stuart Hadden.
New Zealand’s Martin Knight will take on Robertino Pezzota in a
potential banana-skin encounter in the other quarter-final fixture,
after they secured wins over Juan Pablo Roude and Diego Gobbi,
respectively.
Number five qualifying seed Robertino Pezzota surged into the main
draw of the Tour de las Americas – Paraguay Open, PSA M10 tournament
after a comfortable 3-0 rout of Mexico’s Bryan Cueto in Asuncion.
Pezzota came into the fixture in fine form after losing just one of
his last 21 matches on the PSA World Tour and made short work of
Cueto as he powered to the win courtesy of an 11-7, 11-5, 11-4
margin of victory.
The 33-year-old Argentine’s reward is a main draw matchup with
Brazil’s Diego Gobbi, with the pair set to meet for the first time
since the 2015 PSA Regatas Resistencia Open, in which Pezzota
triumphed.
Two other Argentines, Ignacio Gutierrez and Juan Pablo Roude, will
join Pezzota in the main draw after they racked up respective wins
against Malaysia’s Le Roy Leong and Paraguay’s Esteban Casarino,
with Roude coming back from two games down to win.
Gutierrez is set to do battle with Mexico’s Arturo Salazar, the
winner of the recent Resistencia Open, in round one, while Roude
will play experienced New Zealander Martin Knight.
Paraguayan World No.421 Francesco Marcantonio is the only
non-Argentine to advance through the qualifying stages after
recovering from a 2-1 deficit to beat Santiago Orozco Parra, and he
will go head-to-head with Eric Galvez in round one of the main draw.
