Facundo Diaz Acosta wins maiden ATP title Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires native Facundo Diaz Acosta made the most of his wild card into his hometown event, and came away with his maiden ATP title on Sunday after a thrilling upset victory over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, 6-3, 6-4, on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Argentina Open.

Surrounded by family and friends and a capacity crowd that backed his every move, Diaz Acosta took the play to Jarry from start to finish, and eventually converted his sixth championship point to bring the crowd to its feet in celebration.

“I don’t know what to say,” an elated Diaz Acosta said after his triumph. “I’ve been working a lot for this, with all my people – my family, my friends, my team, so I’m very, very happy.”

A sudden rise

23-year-old Diaz Acosta entered 2024 with two ATP wins to his name, and he has secured seven wins this month alone. He reached his first ATP quarter-final at Cordoba last week, and surged to the title in Buenos Aires without dropping a single set this week.

His win over No 21-ranked Jarry is the best by ranking of his career, eclipsing his win over No 22-ranked Francisco Cerundolo in the second round.

The 23-year-old will raise from 87 to a career-high ranking of 59 in Monday’s rankings as a result of his run to the title. Facundo Diaz is the sixth Argentinian man to win the title in Buenos Aires, joining Guillermo Coria (2004), Gaston Gaudio (2005), Juan Monaco (2007), David Nalbandian (2008) and Diego Schwartzman (2021).

Jarry out of steam

Jarry didn’t manage to produce the same inspired energy that he demonstrated during his upset victory over Carlos Alcaraz in Saturday’s semi-finals. He couldn’t convert any of the six break points he earned, and fell behind in both sets as the crowd rallied behind his opponent.

He was broken for 3-1 in the opening set and 1-0 in the second set, and thus was forced to play from behind the whole match.

Nevertheless, Jarry will return to the top 20 in Monday’s ATP rankings, at No 19.

Meanwhile, Diaz Acosta did not let the nerves bother him. Even in the final game, when he missed out on his first five championship points he didn’t let it bother him. He simply got back to to the service line and finished off his magical victory in one hour and 45 minutes.

Argentinian wildcard Facundo Diaz Acosta defeated Chilean Nicolas Jarry, the No 3 seed, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Argentina Open trophy at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday evening.

In the previous rounds of the Buenos Aires Open, Acosta, ranked No 87, beat German Daniel Altmaier (6-3, 7-6 (1)), No 4 seed Francisco Cerundolo (7-6 (3), 6-0), Serb Dusan Lajovic (6-4, 6-3) and Federico Coria (6-2, 6-3).

Jarry, ranked No 21, defeated Swiss Stan Wawrinka (6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-6 (5)), Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the No 6 seed (4-6, 7-5 ret.) and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed (7-6 (2), 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

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