by Ian Marshall, Editor
In the men’s singles event, top spot in each of the 10 groups assures progress to the main draw, second position and it is a place in the preliminary round.
Rather differently, in the women’s singles group stage the opportunities are less; first place in each of the seven groups secures a main draw berth; the one remaining spot being allocated to a “lucky loser” drawn at random from second positioned players.
Meanwhile, in both the under 21 men’s singles and under 21women’s singles events, in each of the four groups, first and second positions reserve places in the knock-out phase.
Men’s Singles
…………Romania’s Cristian Pletea, the highest rated name on qualification stage duty, made a successful start; he beat Paraguay’s Benicio Moreno (11-3, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6).
…………Recent winner at the Pan American Champonships, Brazil’s Vitor Ishiy opened his campaign by overcoming Argentina’s Alexis Orencel (11-1, 11-3, 11-3).
…………Brazil’s Heverton Guedes di Braz caused an early upset. He beat India’s Mudit Dani, the top name in the group (11-6, 14-12, 2-11, 11-9) but then lost to Ecuador’s Emiliano Riofrio (10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7) who, having earlier accounted for Paraguay’s Diego Duarte (11-7, 11-6, 11-7) is the only unbeaten player. In his second match of the day Mudit Dani overcame Diego Duarte (12-10, 11-13, 11-1, 11-8).
…………Returning to the international scene, his most recent appearance being the Rio 2016 Olympic Games; Brazil’s Cazuo Matsumoto beat Argentina’s Nicolas Galvano (14-12, 1-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-3) and Chile’s Nicolas Burgos (11-7, 11-7, 11-4), the respective top two names in his group.
Women’s Singles
…………Brazil’s Jessica Yamada was the only leading name called to action; she accounted for Chile’s Natasha Rios (11-3, 11-2, 11-2).
…………Melina Hermosilla flew the flag for Paraguay; in her one and only match of the day, she recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Argentina’s Candela Molero (3-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5).
Under 21 Men’s Singles
…………The top four seeds, Romania’s Cristian Pletea, Belgium’s Florian Cnudde, Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes and Chile’s Nicolas Burgos all ended the day unbeaten.
Under 21 Women’s Singles
…………Japan’s Maki Shiomi and Bruna Takahashi, the respective top two seeds in the women’s singles event ended the day unbeaten; it was the same for Chile’s Daniela Ortega, the no.4 seed. However, there was defeat for Norway’s Ilka Duval, the no.3 seed, she lost to Argentina’s Camila Kaizoji (10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-9).
