Although there are a few weeks left until the end of the tennis season, Juan Ignacio Londero, currently 75th in the world ranking, has already forcibly ended it. On October 6, the Cordovan beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-1 and 1-2 in the first round of the Parma Challenger, but he dforced his left ankle into the brick dust during one play and, with great pain, he had to withdraw from the game. Back in Buenos Aires, the imaging diagnosis determined significant damage to the ankle and, while performing magnetotherapy, he will have to remain three weeks off the foot. Then he will follow the steps of rehabilitation until he can start the preseason for 2021.
Londero was one of the first Argentine tennis players who managed to train in quarantine. He got a permit and on June 1 he began to practice in Leones, Córdoba, continuing with the physical part and making a kind of “adaptation” to his new coach, Sebastián Prieto, who had definitely been “released” by Juan Martín del Potro. Before the trip to the United States, the team’s expectations were high Because Londero had trained very well – first in Córdoba, then in the City of Buenos Aires – and those hunches were increased with three very good practices in the New York cement against Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini and David Goffin. However, already in the competition, the results did not accompany him.
Londero fell in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 qualifying and in the second round of the main draw of the US Open, in a match against Borna Coric that could have boosted him emotionally. The Croatian prevailed in five sets and later it would finish arriving at the quarterfinals; for the Argentine, that defeat was a blow to confidence, since he was wounded from there. Later, the Topo lost in the 1st round of Kitzbühel, in the classification of Rome and Hamburg, in the second round of Roland Garros (in Paris he beat Federico Delbonis in a marathon match, which ended 14-12 in the fifth set) and the rugged game would come in Parma, where he had decided to play to try to raise his aim (he started as 2nd favorite).
Londero’s record in 2020 was 9 wins and 10 losses. His best performance came before the cancellation of the tour due to the coronavirus, in February, at the ATP in Buenos Aires, where he reached the semifinals (he lost in three sets to Norwegian Casper Ruud, later winner of the contest). This year, he also made his debut in the Davis Cup team: it was in March, in the 3-1 loss to Colombia, in Bogotá, for the 1st qualifying round. El Topo beat Santiago Giraldo in match 2 of the series by 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 and 6-2, and fell to Daniel Galán in the fourth and final match, 6-3 and 6- Four.
In the coming days, the 2019 ATP Córdoba champion and Bastad finalist, also last year, will meet with the members of his team to analyze the complete scenario and decide how they continue with a view to the next season, if they make modifications or they follow a similar strategy.
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