Alejandro Falla aims to seal his home challenger title in Cali with victory over Eduardo Schwank today.
Having looked fairly comfortable en route to the last four, Falla found himself in serious trouble during his semi-final with Victor Estrella despite being ranked over 100 places higher than the man from the Dominican Republic. Estrella has caused Falla plenty of problems in the past and was close to victory before the second seed hit back and was leading 2-6, 7-6(2), 4-1 when Estrella pulled out with a left leg injury.
On the basis of that performance, Schwank will go in as slight favourite for today’s final. The former Davis Cup player produced some classy performances earlier in the week before seeing off his young compatriot Mario Trungelliti 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday.
A lot depends on which Falla turns up – the one who played so brilliantly to make the fourth round of the French Open in May or the one who nearly lost to Estrella yesterday.
Prediction: Schwank in straight sets.
