Louisville Open: Vargas topples Cardenas to reach last four

Colombian World No.59 Juan Camilo Vargas scored the upset of the day as he battled past No.1 seed Leonel Cardenas in a five-game thriller to reach the Louisville Open semi-finals.

The No.6 seed, who spent 30 minutes less time on court in the second round compared to his opponent, made his fresh legs count as the 74-minute bout reached its conclusion.

Despite Cardenas losing the first game in a 13-11 tie-break, the Mexican showed his pedigree to take the second game by an 11-8 scoreline and the third 11-3.

However, the topsy-turvy encounter had yet another twist in store as Vargas levelled up by taking the fourth 11-8 and eventually booking his spot in the last four by winning the deciding game 11-7.

Vargas will now face No.3 seed Leandro Romiglio for a spot in the final after the Argentinian saw off the threat of Portugal’s Rui Soares in four games.

Despite taking the opening two games 11-5, 11-9, Romiglio was made to work for every point by World No.58 Soares, with the Portuguese player reducing the deficit and taking the third.

The fourth game was a tight affair, with both players trading points throughout, but it was Romiglio who eventually got over the line 11-9 to book his place in the semi-finals.

Elsewhere, American No.2 seed Timothy Brownell came through his quarter-final in confident style, dispatching No.7 seed Ibrahim Elkabbani 11-5, 11-9, 11-7.

The World No.49 continued where he left off against New Zealand’s Lwamba Chileshe in round two, looking in control throughout and taking just 35 minutes to claim the quarter-final victory.

Brownell will face fellow American Faraz Khan for a spot in the final after the No.4 seed defeated Daniel Mekbib in four games.

World No.102 Mekbib arrived into the clash brimming with confidence after his impressive victory over No.8 seed Christopher Gordon in round two, and he jumped out of the blocks once again to take the first game 11-9.

However, after the initial onslaught, Khan worked his way into the match, taking the second and third games 11-7 and racing through the fourth 11-3 to progress to the last four.

Results – Quarter-finals: 2023 Louisville Open

[3] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt [5] Rui Soares (POR) 3-1: 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 (65m)

[6] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) bt [1] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-2: 13-11, 8-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7 (74m)

[2] Timothy Brownell (USA) bt [7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (35m)

[4] Faraz Khan (USA) bt Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (48m)

Draw – Semi-finals

[6] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) v [3] Leandro Romiglio (ARG)

[4] Faraz Khan (USA) v [2] Timothy Brownell (USA)