In Argentina

Schwärzler starts the new season with victory

Joel Schwärzler is delighted after a successful start to the season.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung)

Successful start to the season for Joel Schwärzler! The 18-year-old from Vorarlberg beat the Ecuadorian Andres Andrade 7:5 and 6:4 in the first round of the AAT Challenger Antander Tigre tournament in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires.

After Joel Schwärzler had prepared specifically for the start of the season in recent weeks under the guidance of his Spanish coach Juan Ozón Llácer, it now went very promisingly. At the ATP Challenger in Buenos Aires, the Vorarlberg native, who is currently ranked No. 330 in the world, has already reached the round of 16 after his 7:5, 6:4 victory over Ecuadorian Andres Andrade (ATP No. 216).

Problems only at the beginning
The start was anything but optimal. While Schwärzler was able to fend off two break points in his first service game, he had to surrender his service to the 26-year-old South American in the fourth game to make it 1:3. But the Harder showed nerves of steel at the start of the new year and pulled away to 5:3 with four games in a row. Andrade was able to equalize again, but after another break and 58 minutes of play, the Vorarlberg player had set one in the bag.

Double fault seals Andrade's fate
In the second set, both players held their serve without any problems until 4:4. But then Schwärzler got serious: Andrade was able to fend off the first break point before "gifting" the point to the Austrian with a double fault. An advantage that the former number one in the junior world rankings would not allow to be taken away - after 1:41 hours of play, Joel left the clay court as the 7:5, 6:4 winner. In the round of 16, he will now play either the third seeded local hero Andrea Collarini (ATP no. 177) or Avaro Guillen Meza (Ecu/ATP no. 270).