AFP – Argentine Francisco Cerundolo upset fifth-seed Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.
Cerundolo, who enjoys plenty of support from South Florida’s large Argentine community, has now reached the last eight in three of his past four appearances at Miami.
Cerundolo failed to make the most of three break points in the opening game but eventually broke through at 3-3, converting his fourth break point of that game.
The 23rd seed, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, was dominant in the second set, but his victory was postponed by a three-hour, 30-minute rain delay that arrived when he was 5-1 up. “I’m super happy. It’s always difficult when you’re playing a really good match, controlling the game, and you have to stop for rain,” said Cerundolo.
“It’s not easy, but I was chill and came back to the match confident and played a really good service game. I’m super happy to get back-to-back Masters 1000 quarter-finals in the U, on hard courts. It’s a great achievement,” he said.
Next up for Cerundolo is 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated American Brandon Nakashima 6-4 7-5.
There was some cheer for the home crowd though with Sebastian Korda beating French veteran Gael Monfils 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in another rain-affected match.
