In this way, the Buenos Aires tennis player, No. 22 in the ATP ranking, ended a negative streak: he had not won two consecutive matches since February, when he reached the semifinals at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro. It was his first victory against a top 20 on clay since Roland Garros 2023 and his first on any surface since last October, when he won in his second appearance at the Bois de Boulogne against the Norwegian Casper Ruud.
Cerúndolo, who entered the Madrid competition as 21st seeded directly in the second round, had just beaten the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, and will face in the next stage the winner of the duel between the German Alexander Zverev (4th) and the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who had just eliminated two Argentines, Facundo Díaz Acosta and Tomás Martín Etcheverry.
Francisco Cerúndolo worked from start to finish
It was a first set with alternating and frenetic dominance in the Arantxa Sánchez stadium, in Madrid’s Caja Mágica. Francisco Cerúndolo was up break twice, served for a set and even had a chance to win it. However, Tommy Paul became strong, came back and took him in the tiebreak.
In the second set, parity dominated the scene. Until the tenth game, neither had had a chance to break and that was when the Argentine hit the accelerator, managed to break the American’s serve and ruled that the match be decided in the third set.
In the last chapter, Francisco Cerúndolo came out determined to win the game. Solid, with fewer errors and becoming stronger with his serve, he managed to achieve a great and hard-fought victory.
Sebastián Báez couldn’t handle Taylor Fritz and said goodbye
The other Argentine who played on Sunday, Sebastián Báez (19th), said goodbye with a defeat against the American Taylor Fritz (13th), 6-2 and 6-3, in 1h 4m. The North American, who scored 11 aces, took the Buenos Aires native’s serve three times and did not give a single break chance with his serve, totaling 20 winning shots and just 3 unforced errors.
Although Sebastián Báez is a specialist on clay, a surface on which he won five of his six ATP titles, he did not start the European tour in the best way: he lost in his debuts at the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 and the ATP 500 of Barcelona, while he only managed to win one match in Madrid.
Pedro Cachín will seek to lower Rafael Nadal
The other Argentine in action at Madrid’s Caja Mágica is Pedro Cachin (91st). A unique encounter awaits the Bell Ville player this Monday against none other than Rafael Nadal, in search of a place in the round of 16. It will be the first match between the man from Córdoba and the former world No. 1, who is in his last season on the circuit, and agreed with a wild cardsince it currently appears 512th in the ranking.
Despite his decline, Nadal is still a fearsome opponent: in the previous round he beat Alex de Minaur, 11th in the world. This match between Cachin and the Manacorí left-hander will be played in the third round at the Manolo Santana stadium, no earlier than 11 o’clock in our country.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
