The seed exodus that saw six seeds depart from the Guayaquil challenger in the first round has now claimed another surprise. Ninth seed Ernesto Escobedo (upgraded to a late seeding due to Renzo Olivo’s injury withdrawal, was beaten by Nicolas Kicker of Argentina 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday.
Escobedo won the first set and seemed well placed to cruise into the quarter-finals. However Kicker himself often seeded in these events, rallied to lose just three games himself in the final two sets.
Escobedo was one of only two remaining seeds after established names including Gastao Elias, Carlos Berlocq and Victor Estrella Burgos all suffered early exits across the first round matches on Monday and Tuesday.
The field now appears clear for the only remaining seed, second seed Facundo Bagnis, to sweep the field and claim the title. He will however have to face shock quarter-finalist in qualifier Joao Pedro Sorgi, who fresh from shocking Estrella Burgos, defeated former Top 30 player Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Sorgi, who is more accustomed to battling on the futures circuit, has now recorded his two most impressive career wins back-to-back at the same tournament and will be full of confidence when he takes on the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw.
Other names still remaining in the draw include the experienced Andres Molteni who defeated the conqueror of Santiago Giraldo, Daniel Elahi Galan 7-5, 6-3. Molteni plays Kicker next, though Kicker should be considered the favourite for the win.
Arthur de Greef and Mathias Bourgue meet in the top quarter. Both unseeded at this event, but have been seeded at Challengers in the past, prediction for Bourgue to emerge the winner.
The final quarter-final sees veteran Andres Ghem face fellow clay specialist Guido Andreozzi. Both are former clay challenger titlists so should be very close, with Ghem perhaps the most likely winner.
