Garin gains confidence in Washington | ATP Tour

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Garín gains confidence in Washington

Galán also advanced on the same day

July 30, 2024

Cristian Garín played one of his most complete matches of the year on Monday. Playing for the first time at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, an ATP 500 event held in Washington, the Chilean won 6-4, 6-2 against Aslan Karatsev in just one hour and 33 minutes.

The No. 115 in the PIF ATP Rankings saved all five break points he faced on serve (all in the second game of the match) to make it 1-0 in the Lexus ATP HeadToHead between the two and record his first ATP Tour main draw win of the year on hard courts.

This is Gago’s second win in a tournament above the 250 category, after adding his first at the beginning of the season on the clay of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro. The 25 points he has secured allow him to rise to No. 105 in the live ranking and get closer to the Top-100, a group he left last May.

He could rise to No. 103 if he prevails in the next round against fourth-seeded hometown player Sebastian Korda, who leads the Lexus ATP HeadToHead with Garín 2-0 after winning Halle 2022 and Australia 2023. Garín has not won multiple ATP Tour main draw matches on hard courts since Miami 2023.

Another Spaniard who is looking for merits to return to the Top 100 this week is Daniel Galán, who took a big step towards achieving it on Monday. The Colombian, No. 124 in the PIF ATP Rankings, debuted with a resounding victory: he won 6-4, 6-3 against local Maxime Cressy, who came from the qualifying round.

His biggest moment of crisis came when he was unable to save the only break point he faced on serve at 1-2 in the second set. However, his reaction was so solid that, from then on, he did not lose any more games in the match. From that moment on in the match, he only lost nine points on his way to his seventh victory of the year on the ATP Tour.

His next opponent will be fifth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe. It will be the first duel between the two. In addition to his best win of the season, Galán will be looking to score victories in the same ATP tournament on fast courts for the first time since October 2022.

In other results of the day, Canadian Denis Shapovalov defeated Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-4 and will now face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, sixth seed.