FATIGUE and injury to the Argentina Open’s top two seeds, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini has opened the door for new number one seed, Diego Schwartzman to win on home soil. Joined by predominantly those who contested at Cordoba, Schwartzman becomes the benchmark after Thiem (fatigue) and Berrettini (injured) both withdrew over the past couple of weeks. The Austrian would have been going for his third title after becoming the first non South American or Spaniard to win the event in 2016, since it began 15 years earlier.

FAVOURITE:

Diego Schwartzman (Argentina)

The world number 14 enters the tournament as favourite, and it is easy to see why based on both form and past events. He was impressive at the Australian Open prior to running into Novak Djokovic, taking the scalps of in-form Lloyd Harris and Serbian seed, Dusan Lajovic on his way to a Round of 16 appearance. He did have a shaky ATP Cup, losing to talented Hubert Hurkacz, as well as top five seeds Daniil Medvedev and Thiem. He did knock off the fourth seed here, the then-world number 28 Borna Coric back in the ATP Cup which will give him confidence. In 2019, he remarkably toppled Thiem in a come-from-behind three sets win before being blown away by Cecchinato 6-1 6-2 in the final. You get the feeling the time is right for him to step up at his home tournament where he was born and still resides, in Buenos Aires. Will have massive crowd support too, which is a plus.

CONTENDERS:

Guido Pella (Argentina)

The second seed here in Buenos Aires, Pella will be disappointed after a three-set loss to Corentin Moutet in his first match back in his home country this year. He will again earn a bye in the first round, but will need to be better prepared here if he is to go deeper on his preferred clay courts. He reached the semi-finals here 12 months ago, before going down to third seed Italian and eventual winner, Cecchinato. He is always thereabouts when it comes to these lower clay court events and realistically should be the biggest threat to Schwartzman’s title hopes. If he can get a good run and work himself into the tournament before going cold and being bundled out, it will be interesting to see how deep he can go.

Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay)

Reached a quarter final here 12 months ago and took a set off Thiem before losing in three. At his best he can really upset the apple cart, and while he will not be seeded here, the world number 48 is able to match most, if not all of the clay courters going around in this ATP250 tournament. He is 34-years-old now, and has not won a tournament since 2017, but all six of his titles have come on clay, the last four in South America. On the hard courts of Australia, Cuevas had a few weeks to forget, with a win over Reilly Opelka in the first round at Adelaide the only saving grace over an otherwise disappointing first month to the year. Cuevas lost to world number 61 Gilles Simon at the Australian Open, world number 73 Yoshihito Nishioka in the ATP Cup – 6-0 6-1 no less – and world number 90 Tommy Paul in Adelaide. Lost to Cristian Garin in the quarter finals at Cordoba, but it was tight so can improve from there.

Cristian Garin (Chile)

The penny needs to drop eventually for the world number 31, who is at a career-high ranking as it stands. The 23-year-old Chilean needs another title to his two clay court wins in 2019 at Munich and Houston. He might not have the consistency of some others, but he has the shotmaking ability, and on his day, if he can piece it all together then watch out. His form this season on hard court was nothing short of atrocious, claiming one win – world number 74, Stefano Travaglia – while losing to Harris in Adelaide after going down to Djokovic, South African Kevin Anderson and Frenchman Gael Monfils in the ATP Cup all in straight sets. Now on his preferred clay, Garin has to make a push into the top 30 and go from an good player with great potential, to a great player. Reached the Round of 16 here 12 months ago before also bowing out to Cecchinato.

ROUGHIE:

Marco Cecchinato (Italy)

As you can tell from above, the Italian went on a giant-killing spree last year, holding a massive mental edge over the tournament favourites 12 months on. He rolled Garin, Pella and Schwartzman at Buenos Aires in 2019, overcoming the fierce crowd atmosphere towards their hometown hero in the final to win 6-1 6-2 over the Argentinian fourth seed. He reached a career-high 16th in the world this time last year after his title here, then proceeded to land in a slump with 10 and then five-match losing streaks across the season, also having to pull out of Budapest as defending champion due to illness. Ended up on the Challenger circuit post Australian Open, where he won against opponents all ranked outside the top 100 before falling to Thiago Monteiro in the final.

DARK HORSE:

Corentin Moutet (France)

Moutet is not getting the recognition he deserves after a really strong start to 2020. The lightly-built Frenchman is still only 20-years old, ranked inside the top 75 and is bordering on a career high top 70 ranking. He did go out to an in-form Marin Cilic in the Australian Open first round, but everyone seems to have forgotten his stunning run at Doha. Before losing to Andrey Rublev in the final, Moutet took down Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Tennys Sandgren – all of whom made the quarter finals at Melbourne Park. These wins came after surviving qualifying, and he has already taken down number two seed, Pella in his home country just a week earlier in Cordoba. Moutet could be a top 20 player by year’s end on form.