Buenos Aires, Feb 9 (NA) -- Argentine tennis player Lautaro Midon (229th) lost in straight sets to Spanish player Pedro Martínez (94th) in the first round of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, known as the Argentina Open. According to the Argentine News Agency, the player from Corrientes fell 6-4 and 6-1 after just over an hour and a half of play. Despite the defeat in the main draw, Midon had a positive week: he made the most of the wildcard to play the qualifiers, reached the main draw, played his first ATP-level match, and climbed four spots in the live ranking to 225th, the best position of his career. In his ATP main draw debut, he could not overcome Martínez, who was among the top 40 in the world last year, and lost to him in two sets. The first set was contested. Midon started confidently, saving four break points in the first game and achieving the first break in the sixth game, although he could not confirm it. Martínez regained the break in the next game, broke again in the ninth game, and served out the set, closing it 6-4 without dropping points. In the second set, the ranking difference was noticeable: with more composure, the Spanish player imposed his game while Midon, who was also carrying two matches from the weekend, began to make more errors. With three breaks in his favor, Pedro Martínez closed the match with a single match point and advanced to the quarterfinals of the country's most important tournament. There he will face the winner of the match between German Daniel Altmaier (51st) and Argentine Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (80th), a recent semifinalist of the Challenger 125 in Rosario.
