Regatas Resistencia Open RD2: Colombia’s Knudsen and Bautista Through

The Colombian duo of Matias Knudsen and Lucia Bautista both caused upsets on the second day of the Regatas Resistencia Open in Argentina.

Knudsen came into the men’s Challenger 10 level draw as one of the tournament wildcards, and defeated Guatemala’s Alejandro Enriquez on the opening day.

Yesterday, the Colombian took on Germany’s Yannik Omlor, the No.3 seed for the event, and came from behind to take the win. The German won the opening game 11-9, but Knudsen fought back strongly, and won the next three games comfortably. The Colombian has been as high as World No.168 previously, and that showed in the latter stages of the contest, as Omlor struggled to get any rhythm going.

Knudsen will now face Frenchman Edwin Clain in the quarter finals after the tournament’s No.6 seed downed Brazil’s Diego Gobbi in straight games. He won 3-0, but two of those went to tie-breaks, with the first going the distance to 15-13.

Elsewhere, home favourite Leandro Romiglio safely made his way into the last eight. The Argentinian No.1, and tournament’s top seed, defeated France’s Toufik Mekhalfi in straight games. He will now take on compatriot Jeremias Azana, the No.8 seed, in the last eight on Thursday.

In the women’s event, Lucia Bautista came from a game behind to defeat Egypt’s no.4 seed Sohaila Ismail in a deciding fifth game. The Colombian was also unseeded for the competition, and dropped just four points in her opening match of the week, against Victoria Lischuk. 

She then won the opening game of her second round clash with Ismail on Wednesday. However, the Egyptian fought back strongly, and won both the second and third games to turn the match around. Bautista then battled to win the fourth 11-5 to send the match into a decider, which she then won 11-7 to end the match after 53 minutes.

The Colombian is joined by two other unseeded players in the quarter finals of the women’s event. Egypt’s Ingy Hammouda downed No.6 seed Kincso Szasz, while Mexican Sarahi Lopez defeated Dutchwoman Sanne Veldkamp, also in straight games.

Top seed Tessa ter Sluis came through her first match of the week without worry, beating Paraguay’s Fiorella Gatti in straight games. No.2 seed Laura Tovar adds to the Colombian interest in the last eight, after she defeated Scotland’s Ellie Jones in the second round.

The quarter finals of the Regatas Resistencia Open will take place on Thursday, May 11. All the action from Resistencia will be streamed throughout the week on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel, where you can watch Challenger Tour action, and interviews with rising stars. 

You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. Live scores are available on the PSA World Tour website here.

Men’s Second Round Results: Tour de las Americas – Regatas Resistencia Open
[1] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt Toufik Mekhalfi (ARG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 (40m)
[8] Jeremias Azana (ARG) bt Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-3 (28m)
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) bt Diego Gobbi (FRA) 3-0: 15-13, 11-8, 13-11 (34m)
[WC] Matias Knudsen (COL) bt [3] Yannik Omlor (GER) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 (43m)
[4] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Maceo Levy (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (35m)
[5] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Nicolas Serna (COL) 3-2: 11-9, 8-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-8 (68m)
[7] Andres Herrera (COL) bt Leo Vargas (MEX) 3-2: 8-11, 11-9, 14-12, 3-11, 11-7 (80m)
[2] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt Jorge Gomez (MEX) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 (33m)

Men’s Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Thursday, May 11
[1] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) v [8] Jeremias Azana (ARG)
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) v [WC] Matias Knudsen (COL)
[4] Tom Walsh (ENG) v [5] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI)
[7] Andres Herrera (COL) v [2] Spencer Lovejoy (USA)

Women’s Second Round Results: Tour de las Americas – Regatas Resistencia Open
[1] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bt Fiorella Gatti (PAR) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-1 (22m)
[7] Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) bt Maria Tovar (COL) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7 (41m)
Sarahi Lopez (MEX) bt [8] Sanne Veldkamp (NED) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 13-11 (33m)
[3] Alina Bushma (UKR) bt Pilar Etchechoury (ARG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (23m)
Lucia Bautista (COL) bt [4] Sohaila Ismail (EGY) 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 (53m)
[5] Polly Clark (ENG) bt Carys Jones (SCO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 14-12 (23m)
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt [6] Kincso Szász (HUN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 (21m)
[2] Laura Tovar (COL) bt Ellie Jones (SCO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-3 (21m)

Women’s Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Thursday, May 11
[1] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) v [7] Erisa Sano Herring (JPN)
Sarahi Lopez (MEX) v [3] Alina Bushma (UKR)
Lucia Bautista (COL) v [5] Polly Clark (ENG)
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) v [2] Laura Tovar (COL)