by Ian Marshall
Santiago Lorenzo flew the for Argentina, winning the men’s singles event, Cuba’s Daniela Fonseca secured the women’s singles title.
Similarly, Puerto Rico’s Angel Naranjo and Derek Valentin emerged the men’s doubles champions; Mexico’s Clio Barcenas and Arantxa Cossio reserved to top step of the women’s doubles podium.
Santiago Lorenzo
Safely through to the quarter-finals, occupying the no.2 seeded position in the draw, Santiago Lorenzo beat Peru’s Rodrigo Hidalgo, the no.7 seed (11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 13-11) and Cuba’s Eday Gomez, the no.30 seed (14-12, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3) to reach the final where the good form continued.
He overcame Angel Naranjo, the no.4 seed (11-9, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8) to seal the title.
“I played with confidence because I played well in previous rounds; happy for having won the tournament and qualifying for Santiago 2023, it is one of my most beautiful moments in sport.” Santiago Lorenzo
Progress as status predicted; for Angel Naranjo, life was slightly different, especially at the semi-final stage.
After recording a quarter-final success against Cuba’s René Mendez, the no.32 seed (12-10, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8), he caused somewhat of an upset by beating Canada’s Jeremy Hazin, the top seed (8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10).
Daniela Fonseca
Just one game surrendered by Santiago Lorenzo in the later rounds; it was the same for Daniela Fonseca.
Occupying the no.3 seeded position, she accounted for Brazil’s Laura Watanabe, the no.18 seed (11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7) and Chile’s Valentina Rios, the no.3 seed (12-10, 11-5, 13-11, 11-8), prior to overcoming Mexico’s Arantxa Cossio, the no.14 seed, to claim gold.
“The year 2021 has been the best year of my life so far. I have no way to explain what I’m living now. In Cuba we are not a team, we are a family and we celebrate victories and face defeats together.” Daniela Fonseca
Impressive form from Daniela Fonseca, at the quarter and semi-final stages it had been the same from Arantxa Cossio.
She accounted for Puerto Rico’s Brianna Burgos, the no.31 seed (11-5, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8), followed by success in opposition to Giulia Takahashi, the no.17 seed (10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9).
Gold for silver medallists
Runners up spots for Angel Naranjo and Arantxa Cossio but there was gold.
Angel Naranjo partnered Derek Valentin to men’s doubles gold, the pair overcoming Eday Gomez and René Gomez, the no.15 seeds, in the final (11-9, 11-3, 11-5).
A straight games win for the Puerto Ricans to seal the title, for Clio Barcenas and Arantxa Cossio it was rather more exacting; they needed the full five games to halt the aspirations of Giulia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe (6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7).
Attention now turns to the men’s team and women’s team events; play concludes on Sunday 5th December.
