The quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000 marked the closing of the participation of Francisco Cerúndolo. The Argentine, who had just delivered the blow against the German Alexander Zverev with a heroic victory 6-3 and 6-4, he couldn’t beat the American Taylor Fritz in a marathon battle. With partial 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3, The Albiceleste leader lost an even and emotionally charged duel.
Despite having the support of Rodrigo DePaul, who took advantage of his free time in the Atlético de Madrid and approached the charming stadium Manolo Santana to accompany his compatriot, Fran was unable to access the semi-finals 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 in which the victory of Fritz.
Five aces of the North American over the only one of the Creole marked one of the differences of the show. A similar situation with double faults, given that the South American had 4 against the only one whose rival could be observed. However, cerundolo He had greater effectiveness in his serve (71% against his opponent’s 61%).
The player of 25 years He had arrived in the Iberian territory positioned in 21st place in the ATP ranking, behind his compatriot Sebastian Baez (19°) and in front of Tomás Martín Etcheverry (27°). But with their defeat, there are no longer any references for the albiceleste flag in the contest.
The last time an Argentine had managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000 had occurred in the edition 2012when Juan Martin del Potro He beat the Ukrainian in that instance Alexander Dolgopolov but then fell in the semifinals against the Czech Tomas Berdych. By then, the Tower 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 it 2007after 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 of the meetings, Carlos Alcaraz he 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 over Alcaraz against all odds.
