Francisco Cerúando wants to continue making history for Argentine tennis. In a formidable week in the Magic Fund, Fran is looking for the first 1000 Masters Final of his career against Casper Ruud (15th world). They already face the Manolo Santana stadium.
Cerúndo has been winning a match that had been presented very hard against Czech Mensik, but after losing the first set, he won with authority to get rid of the rival ascendant and reach the semifinal. The history against Ruud favors the Argentine: they faced eight opportunities, with five wins for Fran and three for the Norwegian.
It started very well closing it, lucid and focused, with four break opportunities in the first game. However, Ruud resisted and dodged from the awkward moment. In fact, the Argentine won his service to put the 1-1.
The funny thing is that as well as the meeting, In the second game, Ruud approached the chair judge to request the attention of a physiotherapist, who entered to talk to him at the break after the third game, with game 2-1 for the European. It didn’t seem a complicated injury: Ruud received back massages and took an analgesic. Fulfill the protocol time, he returned to the game.
Cerúndo it gave the initial coup in the fifth game: not only Ruud did not add any point, but finished its task with a double foul, than He provided the Argentine for the first break to get up 3-2.
At the same time, threatening clouds forced to decide the closure of the ceiling, something that the chair judge informed both players.
Ruud quickly got into the game in the sixth game, in which he closed it made mistakes, including a double foul. The Norwegian recovered the service lost in his second possibility of Break and balanced the score: 3-3.
After another good ruud game, Fran appeared in all his splendor and left his rival at zero again to keep the game matched: 4-4.
Ruud brought the pressure better at the decisive moments and was left with a double set point available to Fran’s serve. The first could not be, but The Norwegian failed in the second, who took the first chapter 6-4.
With the beginning of the second set, development did not vary. Cerúndo it took it relentlessly and left the feeling that when he had time and place he could bother Ruud. The Norwegian had his swings and lost the serve to leave the Argentine 2-1 above and generate the delirium of a bustling public-very Argentine in the stands-that gives a football dye to the duel.
I was closing it to another moment of pressure: conserving the advantage, something he could not do in the first set. And it happened again: with an enormous setback that took the Argentine counterpart, Ruud recovered the lost service and put things 2-2.
The irregularity was located in the center of the scene in the fifth game, the longest of the game: Fran met seven possibilities of break!, But Ruud was able to get out of all and took over the game after 14 minutes!
Cerúndo it reached the second semifinal of a 1000 Masters of his career, after that of Miami in 2022 (which, he coincided, lost against Casper Ruud). In addition, in front of Mesik broke a streak of 5 consecutive losses in the quarterfinals in Masters 1000 to become the first Argentine semifinalist since the foal in 2012.
Fran ensures up 18 of the ranking from Monday, but everything can be better: If Ruud beat would climb at 16, and a potential victory in the final would take him to the 13th place, the best of his career. In addition, he matched Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Miñaur in the season (24).
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