No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina dismissed top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.
Cerundolo defeated Zverev in the Round of 16 at this ATP Masters 1000 event for the second year in a row. He is 3-0 against Zverev all-time, including a quarterfinal victory over him in Buenos Aires earlier this season.
“I’m super happy because I know he loves playing here. He told me last year when I beat him,” Cerundolo said post-match. “He’s an incredible player. I have a great relationship with him, so super happy to get another win and to be in the quarterfinals again.”
Cerundolo won 50 of his 70 total service points (71.4 percent) and went 7-for-7 on points at the net. Zverev managed only six winners with 23 unforced errors.
After he ended Zverev’s seven-match winning streak, Cerundolo’s next task will be to face Czech No. 22 seed Jakub Mensik, who is on a nine-match winning streak dating to his ATP 1000 title in Miami last month.
Mensik breezed past Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-2 in just 56 minutes in their Round of 16 match. Bublik was caught on camera facetiously asking the chair umpire, “Remember when tennis was easy? … Now this guy (Mensik) is not even Top 5, not even Top 10. (Expletive) is that?”
In the same region of the draw, No. 14 seed Casper Ruud of Norway knocked out No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States 7-5, 6-4, in the late match of the day. Ruud had a 27-19 edge in total winners and also won 9 of 10 points at the net.
Ruud will face No. 9 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the quarterfinals after Medvedev rallied past American No. 31 Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The rest of the matches Tuesday were Round of 32 affairs, as the tournament plays catch-up after a nationwide power outage Monday interrupted the event.
British No. 5 seed Jack Draper advanced when his opponent, No. 30 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy, retired after Draper took the first set 7-6 (2).
Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur defeated Canadian No. 29 Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6 (3), while No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy topped No. 17 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 7-6 (3).
Two more Americans advanced to the Round of 16 when No. 11 seed Tommy Paul outlasted No. 24 Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, and No. 16 seed Frances Tiafoe swept Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-3, 6-3.
Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo remained alive when he charged past Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
–Field Level Media
