Tirante follows Top 100 debut with Fonseca win in Santiago

@Chileopen | @atptour

One day after making his debut in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Argentina's Thiago Agustin Tirante marked the occasion in style with a Tuesday win at the Movistar Chile Open.

Tirante defeated #NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca 7-5, 7-6(3) at the Santiago ATP 250 to notch his second tour-level win of 2024, with the first coming earlier this month on home soil in Cordoba. After losing serve for the only time in the match midway through set two, Tirante denied his 17-year-old opponent's attempt to serve out the set at 5-3 and closed out the match in straight sets after more than two hours of play.

Taking care of business 💪 @thiagotirante defeats Fonseca 7-5 7-6(3).

@chile_open | #ChileOpen pic.twitter.com/DUhQ6eKG7m

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 28, 2024

Next up for the World No. 100 is a second-round matchup with Corentin Moutet, who upset seventh seed Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 on Monday.

Tirante is one of eight Argentines in the Top 100, the most from the nation since February 2022. Only the United States (12) and France (10) have more players in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Fonseca was bidding to back up a dream run to the Rio de Janeiro quarter-finals, one week after picking up his first ATP Tour wins at his home tournament.

Also on Tuesday in Santiago, Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo upset fifth seed Yannick Hanfmann 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, and eighth seed Jaume Munar beat fellow Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-4, 6-1. Munar converted on five of his six break chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and made 83 per cent of his first serves, winning 74 per cent of those points.

In an all-Chilean evening matchup, Tomas Barrios Vera defeated Cristian Garin 7-6(3), 7-5. Garin, the 2021 Santiago champion, is one of five players to make a main-draw appearance in all five editions of the ATP 250 event, joining Munar, Facundo Bagnis, Alejandro Tabilo and Juan Pablo Varillas.

Luciano Darderi closed out Tuesday's play near 2 a.m. local time with a 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) victory against Facundo Bagnis. In a rematch of the Cordoba final, also won by Darderi, the Italian saved two match points at 4/6 in the second-set tie-break and ultimately clinched the win after three hours, 19 minutes.