Garin One Win From Glory In Cordoba

Chilean Cristian Garin won his first two ATP Tour titles in 2019. And on Sunday, he will have a chance to lift tour-level trophy No. 3. The World No. 31 beat Slovakian Andrej Martin 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday evening to reach the final of the Cordoba Open.

The third seed got off to a slow start on the red clay in Argentina against Martin, who was pursuing his first ATP Tour title. But Garin saved all six break points he faced in the second and third sets to triumph after one hour and 57 minutes. Martin, who was unseeded, had the crowd behind him as he went after inside-out forehands to try to put the Chilean on the back foot.

But Garin was the stronger player behind his serve, winning 50 per cent of his return points and breaking the World No. 100 four times in his victory. The 23-year-old will play top seed Diego Schwartzman or 2019 Rio Open presented by Claro titlist Laslo Djere for the trophy.

It has been a turnaround week for Garin, who lost his first four matches of the season and then fell in the second round of the Australian Open. Garin has shown impressive grit in Cordoba, also rallying after losing the first set of his quarter-final against sixth seed Pablo Cuevas.