Juan Ignacio Londero earns wild card to join Thiem and Fognini in Cordoba
The inaugural Cordoba Open will take place between February 4-10, 2019, replacing the ATP 250 event in Quito that had to be canceled due to lack of financial support. Thus, the Lawn Tenis Club Cordoba will host the first ATP tournament on clay in 2019, providing an excellent chance for those who like to compete on the slowest surface to chase the first title of the season following the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne. At the moment, five top-25 players have signed to play Cordoba, led by Roland Garros runner-up Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini, Diego Schwartzman, Marco Cecchinato and Pablo Carreno Busta.
Besides Schwartzman, a home crowd will be able to support Leonardo Mayer, Guido Pella, Guido Andreozzi and Federico Delbonis who have all secured the place in the main draw thanks to their ranking. In addition, the organizers have given the first wild card to Juan Ignacio Londero who is currently on a career-high ranking after a strong campaign he had in 2018. Juan Ignacio had the opportunity to compete at three ATP tournaments, always as a qualifier and with the first round exit, still chasing his first main Tour-level win. Five years ago, Londero qualified for the main draw in Bogota just before turning 20, losing to Ivo Karlovic after a great effort and one break of serve he suffered.
A year ago he had the opportunity to play in the main draw of Bogota again and his last ATP match came in Bastad last July, losing to Henri Laaksonen in three sets. The 25-year-old had cracked the top-200 in June 2014 but he couldn't make that extra push and continue his climb towards the elite 100, struggling to maintain a high level and improve the loose segments of his game. That all changed in 2018 when he won two Challenger crowns and more than 40 matches, making a big step towards the top-100 and having a chance to play for the ATP win in front of the home crowd in February.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Fon0FZ
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