2024-04-30 14:59:36
Published on April 30, 2024 at 4:59 p.m. – updated on April 30, 2024 at 5:19 p.m.
One of the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Madrid will pit Taylor Fritz against Francisco Cerundolo, after their respective victories against higher ranked players, Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev.
We know half of the quarter-finalists of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, and if the presence of the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev is not surprising, that of Taylor Fritz and Francisco Cerundolo is a little more so. The two men were indeed facing players better ranked than them this Tuesday afternoon, but they managed to create a surprise. The American, 13th in the world, eliminated Hubert Hurkacz, ranked four places ahead of him, with a score of 7-6, 6-4 in 1h27. For their first clash on earth (Fritz leads 3-1 on the other surfaces), the two players enjoyed serving, with 11 aces on the clock for the Pole and 10 for the Californian. Fritz did not have a single break point to defend, and taking his opponent’s service only once in five occasions, at the start of the second set, allowed him to win the match. He won first in the tie-break, with a score of 7-2.
Cerundolo too strong for Zverev
It is now Francisco Cerundolo who is waiting for a place in the last four. The Argentinian, 22nd in the world, took the scalp of world No. 5 and double winner of the tournament (2018 and 2021), Alexander Zverev. For his very first match against the German player, he won 6-3, 6-4 in 1h30. Francisco Cerundolo, eliminated in the second round during his only participation in the Masters 1000 in Madrid last year, was intractable on serve, saving the two break points that his opponent obtained. It was on the very first play of the game. Cerundolo then broke Zverev on his very first chance of the match at 4-3 to pocket the first set, then at 1-1 in the second. He was not worried about his throws until the end of the match, and here he is in the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 for the fourth time in his career, at 25 years old. The Argentinian won the only match he played against Taylor Fritz, during the last Roland-Garros in four sets.
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