For almost two and a half hours, Francisco Cerúndolo He battled in the Caja Mágica to achieve an important victory: in the quest to return to the Top 20, the Buenos Aires tennis player, who today is 22nd in the world ranking, defeated a direct rival like the American Tommy Paul (16th) by 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 and 6-2.
This Sunday was the fifth meeting on the major tour between Cerúndolo and Paul, with previous victories for the Argentine in Eastbourne and Queens, both in 2023 and on grass, while the North American dominated the clashes in Eastbourne 2022 and in the Masters 1000 of Canada 2023, with the particularity that all the matches were resolved in three sets, a clear example of the parity between both.
Cerúndolo, who entered the Madrid competition as 21st seeded directly in the second round, had just beaten the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, and He will face the German Alexander Zverev in the next stage (4th), who in the last match of the day won 6-4 and 7-5 against Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who had just eliminated two Argentines, Facundo Díaz Acosta and Tomás Martín Etcheverry. The 25-year-old left-hander was in the Top 10 four years ago, but injuries caused him to lose ground. Today he appears 132nd in the weekly rankings and entered Madrid with a protected ranking. It will be the first clash between Cerúndolo and Zverev.
The other Argentine who played on Sunday, Sebastian Baez (19th), said goodbye with defeat against the American Taylor Fritz (13th), with partials of 6-2 and 6-3, in just over an hour of action controlled by the American, who scored 11 aces, took three times Báez’s service and did not grant a single break chance with his serve, he totaled 20 winners and only 3 unforced errors.
The other Argentine in action at Madrid’s Caja Mágica is Pedro Cachin (91°) . A unique crossing awaits the Bell Ville player this Monday against none other than Rafael Nadal, in search of a place in the round of 16. It will be the first match between the man from Córdoba and the former world number 1, who is in his last season on the circuit, and entered here as a special guest, since he currently appears 512th in the ranking. Despite his decline, Nadal is still a fearsome opponent: in the previous round he beat Alex de Minaur, 11th in the world. This match between Cachin and the Manacorí left-hander will be played in the third round at the Manolo Santana stadium, no earlier than 11 o’clock in our country.
Another notable victory on Sunday was that of the number 3 on the circuit, Carlos Alcaraz, who reached the round of 16 by eliminating the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-3 and 6-3, and seems to have left behind the problems in his right forearm that made him miss the Monte Carlo and Barcelona tournaments. “Thiago hit the ball very hard and I didn’t know how his forearm was going to hold up, today was a litmus test for me, and I finished very well, no discomfort, feeling spectacular,” Alcaraz said after the match.
The Spaniard, current double champion of the Madrid tournament, will repeat last year’s final in Madrid in the round of 16 against the German Jan-Lennard Strauff, who beat the Frenchman Ugo Humbert 7-5 and 6-4. “We’re going to have to give our hundred percent, I think it’s going to be a slightly uncomfortable game to play, but I’m going to enjoy it,” said Alcaraz.
The surprise of the day was carried out by the Dutchman Tallon Greek track (25th), who beat the Danish Holger Rune (12th), 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3. Furthermore, the Russian Andrey Rublev (8th) beat the Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (28th) by 7-6 (12-10) and 6-4, and the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (9th) beat the German Daniel Altmaier (61st) by 6- 4 and 7-6 (7-2).
In the women’s tournament, the world number 4, the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, will also be in the round of 16 in Madrid, beating the Egyptian Mayar Sherif 6-1 and 6-4. A winner in Stuttgart last week, Rybakina will compete for a place in the quarterfinals of the Madrid tournament against the young Czech Sara Beljek, 18, from the previous phase, who beat the American Ashlyn Krueger 6-4 and 6-1.
The young Russian Mirra Andreeva, 16, earned a place in the round of 16 by beating the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, world number 7, 7-5 and 6-1. Andreeva (43rd) awaits the winner of the duel between the Italian Jasmine Paolini and the French Caroline Garcia in the next round.