The best Argentine in the ranking got rid of Jack Sock and entered the third round of the first Masters 1000 of the season.
Francisco Cerúndolo advanced this Saturday to the third round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000. Guido Pella could not follow in his footsteps, while Sebastián Báez plays against the Australian Rinky Hijikata so as not to leave his Next Gen Argentina partner alone in this traditional tournament that is played in the Californian desert.
Fran Cerúndolo, the best Argentine in the ATP world ranking since 32nd place, measured forces with local server Jack Sock (154), whom he beat 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4 on court 3 of the complex . After losing the first set, the man from Buenos Aires recovered and built an interesting victory that will allow him to collide against the Canadian Félix Auger Aliassime (10), executioner of the Spanish Pedro Martínez (120) 7-6 (5) and 6-4.
Báez (35), for his part, champion this year at the Córdoba Open, debuted in the second round against Hijikata (130), who passed the classification and beat the Swedish Mikael Ymer (57) in the initial round. In the case If he wins, Báez will play his next match against an American tennis player: Taylor Fritz (5) or Ben Shelton (41).
After defeating Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (78) in the initial round, Pella from Bahia (739) could not cope with the solidity and relevance of Griekspoor (36), excepted from the first round. It was 7-6 (3) and 7-6 (4) for the European who awaits the winner of the cross between the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (94) and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (2), top favorite for the title and tournament champion on last year.
The Indian Wells Masters 1000 takes place on a concrete surface, will distribute prizes of $10,143,750, will last until Sunday March 19 and is played jointly between the ATP and the WTA.
The contest had only one Argentine champion throughout history, Juan Martín Del Potro from Tandil, who lifted the trophy in the 2018 edition.
On that occasion, Del Potro defeated the Swiss Roger Federer, from whom he took the unbeaten record of the first 18 matches of the year after defeating him in the final 6-4, 6-7 (8-10) and 7-6 (7 -2).
