Miami Masters 1000: Francisco Cerúndolo was eliminated in the quarterfinals

could not be for Francisco Cerundolo. The path of the player from Buenos Aires in the Miami Masters 1000 was interrupted with an unquestionable defeat. In the quarterfinals, the number 31 in the ranking lost 6-3 and 6-2 with the Russian Karen Khachanov, and thus he was left with the desire to match the good campaign of 2022, when he climbed to the semifinals in the contest that It is played at Hard Rock Stadium.

This time, Cerúndolo’s performance went from major to minor. Because he started in good shape, and even managed to break Khachanov to get ahead 3-2 and serve him. However, the development suddenly changed hands: the Russian recovered the break immediately, and strung together six games in a row: from 2-3 he went ahead 6-3 and 2-0. The match went too quickly for Cerúndolo, who no longer recovered the compass and said goodbye in just one hour and 16 minutes.

The player coached by Kevin Konfederak finished the day with 28 unforced errors, against just 16 for the Russian; There was some difference there, since they remained even in winning shots (15 from the Argentine, against 17 from the winner). Then, Cerúndolo looked very vulnerable with the serve: he barely won 4 of the 18 points (22 percent) that he played with the second serve; the Russian found several opportunities and captured the Argentine’s serve four times.

Cerúndolo defended 360 points in Miami that he had added last year when he advanced to the semifinals. Not being able to muster the same amount this year, he will drop a couple of places, down to the 33rd step of the weekly ranking. Anyway, he put in a good performance and in this contest he surpassed the American Aleksandar Kovacevic (102nd), the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime (6th) and the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (59th). And from here to Roland Garros included, he only has 65 points to defend; if he can score on the slow-court tour, he can break into the Top 30.

“I didn’t feel like I was playing so badly, but he was very firm, he didn’t make mistakes, he runs very well for his height. I have to improve ”, Cerúndolo accepted after his elimination.

Cerúndolo’s fall in the quarterfinals brings with it a change in the ranking: starting next Monday, the best-placed Argentine in the standings will be Sebastian Baez, who will occupy the 32nd position, just 30 points ahead of the player from Buenos Aires. A little further behind will be Diego Schwartzman (36th), who from the next few weeks will have Mariano Monachesi as the new coach to accompany him on trips, instead of Alejandro Fabbri.

Khachanov, 16th in the world, joins his compatriot Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, who eliminated American Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 7-5. A finalist will emerge from the clash between the two; On the other side of the key, the Italian Jannik Sinner beat the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-1, and awaits the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz.

In the ladies’ draw, without the Polish Iga Swiatek (1), current champion who dropped out due to injury, the candidates for the title is the Kazakh Yelena Rybakina (7), champion in the previous Masters 1000 played in Indian Wells. Rybakina appeared in the last match of the day against the American Jessica Pegula (3).

THE NATION