Cordoba Open 2022: Diego Schwartzman vs Daniel Elahi Galan preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Diego Schwartzman vs (LL) Daniel Elahi Galan

Date: 4 February, 2022

Tournament: Cordoba Open

Round: Quarterfinal

Venue: Cordoba, Argentina

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Clay

Prize money: $493,875

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel

Diego Schwartzman vs Daniel Elahi Galan preview

Schwartzman at the 2022 ATP Cup. Enter caption

Top seed Diego Schwartzman will lock horns with lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Cordoba Open on Friday.

Schwartzman needed little more than an hour to post a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 win over compatriot Juan Pablo Ficovich in the second round. The World No. 14 looked to be back to his best after a shock second-round loss to Christopher O'Connell at the Australian Open.

Schwartzman will hope for a good showing at the Cordoba Open to kick off his claycourt campaign. Considering the draw he has been dealt, he will fancy his chances of making a deep run.

Daniel Elahi Galan at the 2022 Adelaide International 1.

Daniel Elahi Galan, meanwhile, lost in the final qualifying round of the tournament, but entered the main draw as a lucky loser. He has made the most of his opportunity by progressing to the quarterfinals.

He defeated Hugo Dellien 7-5, 6-3 in the first round. The Colombian followed it up with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Juame Munar to reach the final eight of an ATP tournament for just the third time in his career.

Elahi Galan has never lost a quarter-final match at ATP level and will aim to keep that streak going.

Diego Schwartzman vs Daniel Elahi Galan head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between the two players, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 currently.

Diego Schwartzman vs Daniel Elahi Galan prediction

Diego Schwartzman at the 2021 French Open.

Given the gulf in their rankings and experience, Schwartzman will be the clear favorite to win this contest. However, Elahi Galan is quite comfortable on clay and could make this a competitive match. He has already upset two players ranked higher than him, though neither were anywhere close to the Argentinian's level.

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Schwartzman, meanwhile, played brilliantly in his second-round match and was close to perfect in every aspect of the game. He served and returned well, stayed solid from the baseline and also covered the court swiftly. If he can play at a similar level against Elahi Galan, he should have little trouble moving into the semifinals.

The Colombian is a solid player from the baseline, but lacks any real weapons to consistently trouble his opponents. He has managed to win just one set in his previous five encounters against top-20 players and that's unlikely to change on Friday.

Prediction: Diego Schwartzman to win in straight sets.

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for three years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram