Francisco Cerúndolo overcame his own ups and downs and successfully premiered his number one in Argentine tennis by advancing to the round of 16 of the Argentina Open on Tuesday, after defeating the German Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 4-6 and 7-5, in a day in which three other national rackets won and Sebastián Báez was eliminated.
“Fran” Cerúndolo, ranked 30th in the ATP world ranking, two above Diego Schwartzman (32), he used two and a half hours to break the German Hanfmann (134), emerged from the classification, on the central court of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club and under oppressive heat at times.
The eldest of the Cerúndolo brothers will play in the round of 16 against the tough Spanish Jaume Munar (67), who on last Monday night eliminated Guido Pella (723) from Bahia after beating him 6-4, 7-5.
The game began with the German too cold despite the very high temperature under which it was played and that was taken advantage of by “Fran” to get an appreciable advantage of 3-0 without the need to shoot too many “winners”, just looking for the points and making his rival uncomfortable.
Cerúndolo stretched his advantage with sheer power with his forehands, This is how he got 4-1 and then closed 6-2, on his own merits and also because the German made too many unforced errors.
The Argentine, who had beaten Hanfmann last year in the “qualification” to enter the main draw in Buenos Aires, this time 7-6 (7-4) and 6-1, took a 3-0 lead in the second quarter and seemed to be heading to close the game, but a series of bad decisions prevented him.
The German lowered his percentage of errors and came close on the scoreboard to equalize it, then he went to the front and took the partial 6-4.
In the third set, the German was the one who controlled the entire match until he went ahead 5-4 and served to win it, but Cerúndolo experienced a great reaction at that moment and turned what seemed like defeat into victory after taking the set 7-5.
“I was playing a great match during the first set and a half, I felt good, comfortable, but suddenly everything changed when I lost four games in a row. He shot and hit and nothing came out of me, although I never lost faith and knew that this could be reversed,” analyzed “Fran” after his long-suffering victory.
Cerúndolo feels comfortable in Buenos Aires, in fact, he was a finalist in the tournament in the 2021 edition, and a quarterfinalist last year, both times defeated by “Little” Schwartzman.
“I like playing here and I’m happy to be number one in Argentina, although I also understand that now I have more pressure and also that there are more expectations placed on what I do,” concluded Cerúndolo.
The first triumph of a national tennis player came from the hand of Tomás Martín Etcheverry (82), from La Plata, who performed from lowest to highest and settled for the first time in his career in the round of 16 of the ATP from Buenos Aires after winning over the Bolivian Hugo Dellien (107) by 3-6, 6-2 and 6-2.
Etcheverry, born in La Plata 23 years ago, beat Dellien after two hours and 21 minutes of play under sweltering heat on the central court of the complex located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo and will play his next match against the Spanish Roberto Carballes Baena.
Carballes Baena (76) defeated his compatriot Albert Ramos (74) 7-5, 6-4 after two and a quarter hours in the match played at the same time but on court number 2.
Then Camilo Ugo Carabelli (127) from Buenos Aires came into action, who beat Colombian Daniel Elahí Galán (85) in the initial round. by 7-6 (9-7) and 6-3, after just over two hours of play.
The 23-year-old Argentine entered the tournament after qualifying and after having surprised Galán will meet in the next round with the Serbian Dusan Lajovic (90)who beat Báez (36) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) and 6-3.
Báez, champion last Sunday at the Córdoba Open, could not continue his good streak and they lost a game they controlled, in fact they were up set and 5-3, and then they went up 4-1 in the tie break that they finally lost.
Báez, 22, from Buenos Aires, fought for two and a half hours before falling with Lajovic, 32 years old.
However, the surprise of the day was not the fall of Báez but that it happened on court number 2 and in the “duel” between Argentine tennis players, with the triumph of Facundo Díaz Acosta (191) eliminating “Fefo” Coria (49), who came from being a finalist last Sunday at the Córdoba Open.
Díaz Acosta, 22, managed to overcome for the first time after three consecutive participations the initial round in Buenos Aires after beating Coria 7-6 (7-5) and 7-5 after two hours of play.
The next rival of the tennis player of Vicente López will be this Wednesday the British Cameron Norrie (12), second seed that will enter the tournament directly in the round of 16, like Alcaraz (2), the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (20) and “Little” Schwartzman (32).
The 23rd edition of the Buenos Aires ATP, which will have its highlight this Wednesday with the debut of Spanish favorite Carlos Alcaraz (2), He contemplated five Argentine victories and now there are seven who have reached the round of 16, an important mark for Argentine tennis today.
