The tennis player Marcelo Ríos defeated the Spanish Alex Corretja in a complex exhibition duel with a farewell flavor at the Gran Arena Monticello, who gave the Chilean an ovation on a luxurious night.
“Chino” took the duel with partial scores of 7-6, 3-6 and a super tie break of 10-7following an hour and 35 minutes of high technical level, despite the almost 50 years of both contenders, who put on a good show.
Corretja stood out with effectiveness in his shots and the sense of show that he showed, both in tennis and in the interactions with the public and Ríos himselfdrawing various laughs and igniting the spirits of the stands throughout the meeting.
The match ended with an absolutely even first set, reflected in the fact that there were no breaks. For the second set, the national was gripped by fatigue and made unforced errors absent up to that point, which did not prevent shots with the quality that he showed throughout his successful career.
The magical left foot of the former ATP leader was noted in the point-to-point definition that replaced the third set. Ríos did not hesitate on many occasions to go up to the net to attack, thus demonstrating that his desire to compete is still intact.
Marcelo Ríos, legend of Creole tennis, was honored by those attending the meeting, Corretja and the organizers of the event. The historian was excited and no completely ruled out the goodbye of the tracks, but the revelation of unknown and recent injuries generated an atmosphere of goodbye and total gratitude for the joys and milestones of Chilean sports.
Marcelo Ríos: Everything has an end, but it would be hard for me to say now that I would not play anymore #CooperativaContigo https://t.co/kGyHepTDf6 pic.twitter.com/Ze4dz9pSMT
— Outdoors in Cooperative (since ????) (@alairelibrecl) March 18, 2023
