PRODUCING the biggest win of his ATP Tour career, Argentinian Mariano Navone stunned second seed Holger Rune in the Round of 16 at the Argentina Open overnight. The world number 47 was the underdog against the 12th ranked Rune, but with clay being his top surface and at home on Court Guillermo Villas, Navone scored a 6-1 7-6 victory.

It looked easy going in the first set at Navone won the first three games and last three games of the set, batting away the only three break points he faced in the fifth game. It was a crucial moment in the match, as Rune had held comfortably the game before to get on the board, and had he broken from 0-40 down then it would have gone back on serve. Instead, Navone held, then broke off his first chance in the next game to set up the lead.

Set two was far tighter, with Navone forced to get out of jail again, this time 15-40 down in the fourth game. Each player held serve all the way to the second set tiebreak, though Navone always looked that bit more comfortable on serve. Once going a break up in the tiebreak to lead 4-1 at one stage, there was no stopping the Argentinian who closed it out 7-2 and moved through to the quarter finals of the ATP250 event.

Navone was critically economical in the way he played, serving four aces for 19 winners, while Rune his 22, but also committed 30 more unforced errors (46-16). Navone’s serving success rate was far higher too with a 76 and 65 per cent win rate off his first and second serves respectively, compared to the number 12’s 57 and 55 per cent.

Despite Rune having the far greater potential to hit winners and close out points sooner, it was Navone who won 62 per cent of rallies under three shots, while also winning 60 per cent of points that lasted between four and six shots. The longer the rally went on, the greater chance Rune had, though despite the Dane forcing nine more errors (20-11), he did himself no favours with 30 unforced errors off his forehand side and 14 off his backhand.

Navone will face Brazilian wunderkind Joao Fonseca in the quarter finals after the teenager came from behind to shake off another Argentinian in lucky loser, Federico Coria. The winner of that quarter final will face either Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild or Laslo Djere who ousted seeds the day before.

In the other results yesterday, third seed Italian Lorenzo Musetti scored an easy win over Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-2 6-3, while Spaniard Pedro Martinez officially ended Argentinian Diego Schwartzman‘s career with a 6-2 6-2 triumph. However the crowd farewelled the wildcard in the best way possible, chanting his name on match point while the South American wiped away tears.

All the remaining Round of 16 results from Delray Beach and Marseille are below.

BUENOS AIRES – ATP250

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

Mariano Navone (ARG) defeated [2] Holger Rune (DEN) 6-1 7-6
[3] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) defeated Corentin Moutet (FRA) 6-2 6-3
Pedro Martinez (ESP) defeated [WC] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 6-2 6-2
Joao Fonseca (BRA) defeated [LL] Federico Coria (ARG) 2-6 6-4 6-2

DELRAY BEACH – ATP250

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[1] Taylor Fritz (USA) defeated Yunchaokete Bu (CHN) 7-6 6-2
[4] Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) defeated [WC] Learner Tien (USA) 7-6 4-6 7-6
[6] Brandon Nakashima (USA) defeated [WC] Reilly Opelka (USA) 3-6 7-5 6-2
[8] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) defeated [WC] Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-2 5-7 6-0

MARSEILLE – ATP250

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[1] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) defeated [Q] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 6-2 6-4
Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) defeated [4] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 6-4 6-7 6-3
Zizou Bergs (BEL) defeated [8] Nuno Borges (POR) 6-2 6-7 6-2
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) defeated [Q] Hugo Grenier (FRA) 6-4 5-7 6-4