2024-04-06 03:01:00
Mariano Navone does not wake up from the dream that started at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, when he reached the final against Sebastián Báez. After the rest after that tour, the Buenos Aires native returned to the circuit in Morocco and reached his second consecutive semifinal by beating the Australian Aleksandr Vukic 6-2, 6-4. Meanwhile, Tomás Etcheverry also accessed the same instance in the Houston tournament.
Navone, ranked 60th in the world ranking, had no problems beating Vukic in one hour and 22 minutes of play to place himself among the top four in the tournament. After the resounding victory against Stan Wawrinka in the previous round, the tennis player from 9 de Julio repeated his good work, did not give up his serve throughout the match and achieved a victory that places him at the gates of the Top 50, something unthinkable when 2024 started .
In search of a new final, Navone will clash with the Italian Matteo Berrettini, who has just beaten his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 and 7-6 (7-5) in one hour and 42 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, in the Houston event, also on clay, Tomás Etcheverry took advantage of the abandonment of the American Michael Mmoh when he was winning 6-3 and 1-0 to reach the semifinal. The man from La Plata, already recovered from a tear that left him out of the circuit for six weeks, will seek the final against the top favorite, local Ben Shelton, who beat his compatriot Brandon Nakashima.