Cecchinato clinches 3rd career title

Buenos Aires - Third-seeded Marco Cecchinato of Italy won the Argentina Open final on Sunday, taking his third career title and disappointing home crowd favourite Diego Schwartzman.

The 26-year-old Cecchinato easily beat fourth-seeded Schwartzman 6-1, 6-2 on the outdoor clay.

Schwartzman had saved a match point to knock out defending champion Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals.

But on Sunday it was very different, with Cecchinato barely giving Schwartzman a chance from the beginning.

World number 18 Cecchinato, 26, who famously defeated Novak Djokovic on his way to the French Open semi-finals last year, has won all three of his titles on clay after Budapest and Umag in 2018.