Francisco Cerúndolo’s Madrid Masters 1000 Run Ends in Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000 marked the end of Francisco Cerúndolo’s participation. The Argentine, who had just defeated the German Alexander Zverev with a heroic 6-3, 6-4 victory, was unable to defeat the American Taylor Fritz in a marathon battle. With partial scores of 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3, the Albiceleste leader lost an even and emotionally charged duel.

Despite having the support of Rodrigo De Paul, who took advantage of his free time at Atlético de Madrid and went to the charming Manolo Santana Stadium to accompany his compatriot, Fran did not manage to reach the semifinals of the competition in the Spanish capital. The former Racing man enthusiastically followed every movement, until the cameras took him behind the traditional malvones that decorate the stage. It was at the moment that Fritz’s victory was decided.

Five aces from the North American over the only one from the Creole marked one of the differences in the show. A similar situation with double faults, given that the South American had 4 against the only one that could be observed against his rival. However, Cerúndolo had greater effectiveness in his serve (71% versus 61% for his opponent).

The 25-year-old player had arrived in the Iberian territory positioned in 21st place in the ATP ranking, behind his compatriot Sebastián Báez (19th) and ahead of Tomás Martín Etcheverry (27th). But with his defeat, there are no longer any references for the albiceleste flag in the contest.

The last time that an Argentine had managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000 had occurred in the 2012 edition, when Juan Martín del Potro defeated the Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in that instance but then fell in the semifinals against the Czech Tomas Berdych . At that time, the Torre de Tandil had ended a streak of two editions without Argentines in that situation, since he had also reached a semifinal in 2009 after winning the quarterfinals against the British Andy Murray but then losing against Roger Federer. In addition, the Swiss had eliminated the Argentine in the 2008 quarterfinals.

The outstanding fact is that the only Argentine who won the crown in this outstanding clay-court competition was David Nalbandian in 2007, after beating Federer in the defining match (1-6, 6-3 and 6-3).

Cerundolo won two ATP titles in his career so far and played in two other finals. Although the most outstanding moment in that item was that he lifted a crown on the Eastbourne grass and broke a streak that spanned almost three decades for Argentine tennis.

In another match, Carlos Alcaraz said goodbye to Andrey Rublev. The Russian, who had already managed to match his performance in previous editions, and without giving up a set in the tournament – the first against Carlitos – won with sets of 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2. The last, and only, confrontation between the two had been at the ATP Finals last year. On that occasion, the tone of the match was completely different and it was the Spaniard who signed the victory 7-5 and 6-2. This Wednesday, Rublev was clear: he wanted to be a semifinalist. And so much so that he has been. After beating the Argentine Bagins, the Spanish Davidovich, and the Dutch Griekspoor, the Russian has passed Alcaraz against all odds.

2024-05-01 23:28:00
#support #world #champion #Francisco #Cerundolo #beat #Taylor #Fritz #goodbye #Madrid #Masters