THE first clay court event of the year kicks off in Cordoba, Argentina from February 3-9, with a 28-player field battling it out in the 250 event. It is only the second time the even has been played, with Juan Ignacio Londero winning in his home country over fellow Argentinian, Guido Pella in three sets. The pair return to Cordoba for the 2020 event, along with . host of other top clay courters who hope to improve on their performances from last year.

FAVOURITE:

Diego Schwartzman (Argentina)

The top seed in Cordoba is coming off a strong Australian Open campaign, going down to seven-time winner Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. Schwartzman picked up some great wins along the way, defeating Serbian top 30 player Dusan Lajovic and the in-form South African, Lloyd Harris. Schwartzman is the clear standout in the field, and will want to make up for a disappointing 2019 campaign here where he fell to countryman Guido Pella in the quarter finals. Expect him to go better than last year based on the form he is in, particularly back on clay courts.

CONTENDERS:

Guido Pella (Argentina)

Last year’s Cordoba runner-up and world number 22, Pella will enter the tournament after a third round exit at Melbourne Park. He fell short of Londero 12 months ago after winning the first set, before going down 3-6 7-5 6-1. Pella’s greatest flaw is his inconsistency which was on show at the ATP Cup where he lost to Austrian 108th ranked Dennis Novak, before knocking off Croatian top 40 player, Marin Cilic who also made a fourth round appearance at Melbourne Park two weeks later. Pella is not a huge server, but he is good at making the most of the opposition’s second serve.

Cristian Garin (Chile)

An exciting 23-year-old who has been on the verge of cracking into the top 30 for some time now, Garin just needs to produce his potential on a more consistent basis. He has opted to play at Cordoba this year and break what has been a disappointing year to date with just one win from five matches, though granted two of those came against top 10 players in Gael Monfils and Djokovic at the ATP Cup. He was blown away by Milos Raonic in the second round at Melbourne Park and will want to pick it up as the third seed in this tournament. His two titles from 2019 came on clay, and expect him to have more shotmaking ability and X-factor than Schwartzman and Pella.

Juan Ignacio Londero (Argentina)

Last year’s surprise title winner – his maiden one on tour – is heading into the tournament ranked 50th and seeded this year. It has been a slow burn for the 26-year-old who turned professional in 2010 and took nine years to breakthrough for his first title. Londero unfortunately drew 18th seed, Belarusian Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of the Australian Open, and, after winning the first set, fell away to go down in four. His only other match was at Adelaide where he lost to Dan Evans in the first round, so the form coming into Cordoba is less than ideal for the reigning champion.

ROUGHIE:

Laslo Djere (Serbia)

The world number 39th and fourth seed at the event also broke through for his maiden title last year, winning at Rio de Janeiro on clay. A shock loss in the first round of the Australian Open to Yoshihito Nishioka was disappointing for the Serbian. Djere has already played three tournaments this year, making it to the Round of 16 at both Doha and Adelaide, with wins over 51st ranked Lorenzo Sonego – who is also playing at Cordoba – and Australian Alexei Popyrin who reached the third round at Melbourne Park. Still not quite putting it all together yet, the 24-year-old is a player who could really impress during the clay court season.

DARK HORSE:

Fernando Verdasco (Spain)

The ageless veteran did not play in Cordoba last year, but it makes sense for the Spaniard to have a crack on the clay courts of South America. He reached the quarter finals at Doha with wins over Pablo Andujar and Filip Krajinovic, and reached the third round of the Australian Open before running into a red-hot Alexander Zverev. Verdasco might not be up with the elite players anymore, but he can certainly shake things up amongst the next tier, and on his best day could beat – or certainly push – anyone in this field.