THIRD seed Chilean, Cristian Garin has overcome rain delays over the past few days in Rio to win his second title of 2020. In the process, he denied plucky Italian qualifier, Gianluca Mager of his maiden title by defeating the 25-year-old in a tough 7-5 7-6 final.

Both semi-finals were delayed from yesterday with Garin getting past fifth seed Croatian, Borna Coric after being a set up prior to the delay. Similarly, Mager was a set up against Hungarian lucky loser, Attila Balazs before his opponent fought back and gave him extra time on court ahead of the final later in the day.

Perhaps the less time on court helped Garin, who won in straight sets against a more than deserving Mager, responsible for number one seed, Dominic Thiem‘s exit. The title comes after winning the Cordoba Open a couple of weeks prior with a triumph over Diego Schwartzman in that match. In the final, the world number 25 took an hour and 34 minutes to win, serving eight aces, no double faults and having an efficiency of 76 per cent. He also won 63 and 65 per cent of his first and second serve respectively, and dominated Mager’s second serve with a 70 per cent success rate.

The Italian served six aces, but also four double faults and while his first serve was incredibly effective (78 per cent), his second serve was a liability, with just a 30 per cent winning record. He saved seven of 10 break points and at one stage was serving for the second set at 5-4 up, but a Garin’s first and second breaks saw the Chilean win the last three games of the match and claim victory.

The Rio Open win has moved the 23-year-old up to a career-high 18th in the world, the first time the Chilean has entered the top 20. It was not all bad new for Mager however, bolting into the top 100 – 51 places in fact – from 128th up to 77th in the world following his final display.

FINAL:

[3] Cristian Garin (CHI) defeated [Q] Gianluca Mager (ITA) 7-6 7-5

SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

[3] Cristian Garin (CHI) defeated [5] Borna Coric (CRO) 6-4 7-5
[Q] Gianluca Mager (ITA) defeated [LL] Attila Balazs (HUN) 7-6 4-6 7-6