In the opening round of the 2023 Cordoba Open, world number 102 Cristian Garin of Chile will face world number 72 Pedro Martinez of Spain.
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Martinez will go to Chile later this month to defend the title he won there last year, his first triumph on the main tour (although he had been beaten in the final in Kitzbuhel in 2021, and returned there to win the doubles last July). He has participated in 19 Challenger tour finals on the surface, winning ten of them, and is a natural clay court player like many Spaniards. In contrast to the majority of players on the tour, he decided to begin the year in Pune, where he defeated Sebastian Baez en route to the quarterfinals. Aslan Karatsev eventually defeated him in straight sets, though. He had no additional practise matches before the Australian Open, which may be what caused him to perform so poorly. Hubert Hurkasz, the world’s No. 10, defeated him in straight sets. Martinez hopes to advance further this time after making it as far as the second round in Cordoba last year.
The world ranking Cristian Garin currently holds does not accurately represent his talent. After all, this is a man who has won five senior clay court championships, including this one in 2020 when he defeated hometown favourite Diego Schwartzman in the final and was ranked as high as 17 in the world just 18 months ago. He actually would have been seeded for this competition had he won the points associated with making it to the Wimbledon quarterfinal last year, when he ultimately lost to Nick Kyrgios. His poor performance in the second half of last season, when he only managed two second round appearances, was the reason he fell to such low levels. He started his 2023 campaign by competing in a Challenger tournament in New Caledonia, where he was the top seed. However, he ultimately lost to the Italian Raul Brancaccio in the semi-final round. After that, he travelled to Melbourne for the Australian Open, where he was defeated in the opening round by American Sebastian Korda. Additionally, he lost against Timofey Skatov of Kazakhstan in their Davis Cup match.
| Pedro Martinez vs Cristian Garin | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 8, 2023 |
| Surface | Clay |
| Tournament | Cordoba Open |
| Stage | Round of 32 |
| Time (India) | 12:30 am |
| Time (Argentina) | 7 pm (Feb 7) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Hubert Hurkacz | 6-7, 2-6, 2-6 (L) |
| Aslan Karatsev | 1-6, 2-6 (L) |
| Sebastian Baez | 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 (W) |
| R. Ramanathan | 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 (W) |
| Zapata Miralles | 0-6, 6-4, 0-6 (L) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Alexander Bublik | 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 (W) |
| T. Skatov | 1-6, 3-6 (L) |
| Sebastian Korda | 4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 2-6 (L) |
| R. Brancaccio | 6-1, 4-6, 3-6 (L) |
| Diaz Acosta | 7-5, 7-5 (W) |
The two have faced off against one another four times, with Garin holding a three-to-one advantage in the head-to-head series. In 2021, on the grass at Wimbledon and the clay at Bastad, he prevailed in both of their matches. Martinez triumphed at the Miami Masters two months after the Chilean did at the Australian Open last year.
Pedro Martinez and Cristian Garin will take on each other in the round of 32 of the 2023 ATP Cordoba Open on February 8 at 12:30 am.
Argentina – FOX Sports 2
Canada – TSN
India – Discovery
UK – Amazon Prime Video
US – Tennis Channel
All ATP and WTA Tour level matches can be viewed on demand on the Tennis TV website and app.
