After a lightning start I had to Taylor Fritz In the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters tournament in Madrid, he had to go through three sets before he could Francisco Cerundolo to reach the round of the last four.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edited: May 1, 2024, 11:57 p.m
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After a lightning start, Taylor Fritz struggled to a three-set win against Francisco Cerundolo.
Here you can read the entire match in the live ticker
Before the quarter-final meeting at the ATP Masters tournament in Madrid, Taylor Fritz from the USA and the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo had met once on the tour. Last year, the 25-year-old Cerundolo won the third round of Roland Garros in four sets on the red clay, which also had to be played in the Caja Magica. Although 26-year-old Fritz has not won any of his seven titles on the ATP Tour to date on clay, the Californian is making steady progress on the surface, as shown by his final appearance at the ATP tournament in Munich.
And so the engine of No. 12 seed Fritz was running at full speed from the start against the Zverev conqueror. After Cerundolo delivered his first service game in a chaotic manner, he couldn’t hold his second service game either. Fritz managed to move his opponent with smooth strokes, which caused Cerundolo to act very incorrectly with his forehand due to the long distances when going around the backhand. The Argentine was only able to score once in the first round on his own serve.
In the third game of the second act, Cerundolo, who was in 21st position, was again faced with two break points, but was able to fend them off and then open the passage. As the game progressed, he played much more patiently and became more and more successful at entangling his opponent in longer rallies. With the score at 4:3, the Argentine earned his first break chances in the match and took advantage of the second with an unreachable stop ball. The two-time ATP title holder then tied the set in a hard-fought service game.
The third round started completely at eye level and was characterized by long and intense rallies. While Fritz continued to stick to his straightforward game, Cerundolo repeatedly tried to break his opponent’s rhythm with stop balls. With the score at 4:3, the American got the first break opportunity in the set, which he was able to exploit with a smash after a somewhat lucky net ball. The former Masters champion then served out the match confidently and secured the 6:1, 3:6, 6:3 success with a service winner after 1:48 hours. For Fritz it was his 250th individual success on the professional tour.
The world number 13 will meet in the semi-finals. on Andrey Rublev from Russia, who dethroned Spanish defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 4:6, 6:3, 6:2 after two hours of play.
Here is the individual tableau from Madrid
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Rublev Andrey Carlos Alcaraz Fritz Taylor Cerundolo Francisco