RIO DE JANEIRO — Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, the No. 4 seed and the 18th-ranked player in the world, was eliminated at the Rio Open clay court tournament Wednesday, falling 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to Fabio Fognini of Italy in a round-of-16 clash.
Fognini advanced to face Argentina’s Federico Coria in the quarterfinals. Coria beat Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4.
“There’s the feeling that I worked for this. I was fighting until the end,” Fognini said after the match. “This South American has always been my favorite place to be, so I am glad to be in the quarterfinals in Rio.”
Spain’s Pablo Andujar beat eighth-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. His adversary in the next round will be the No. 3 seed, Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, who played 24 minutes and 40 seconds to win the second game of the first set against Spaniard Pedro Martinez.
Schwartzman won the match 6-1. 6-1.
“It was unbelievable. This was probably the longest game in the history of the tournament, I don’t remember anything like this before,” the Argentine said. “I played an almost perfect match, I played against an opponent that had as much confidence as me.”