As defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek battled through some scares before making it to the quarter-finals, world No. 2 Alexander Zverev was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.
Cerundolo, a 21-year-old German champion, won 7-5, 6-3 to reclaim his previous year’s feat.
With a wacky 6-0, 6-7 (3/14), 6-4 victory over Diana Shnaider, Swiatek advanced to her fifth WTA 1000 quarter-final of the year.
After defeating Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2, Cerundolo will face Argentinian Cerundolo in the quarter-finals.
He simply played better than I did, Zverev said.
Zverev gave Cerundolo two set points after mating game for game in the first set before granting Cerundolo a second set of points.
The 20th seed gained a 4-1 lead from an over-hitting Zverev immediately after the first set when he was broken by him in the second set.
Zverev yelled his racket in frustration, but Cerundolo kept his composure and remained calm throughout the match.
“I’m very happy because I know he enjoys playing here,” he said. He claimed that he beat him last year when he told me otherwise.
He plays such incredible football. I’m thrilled to win another championship and advance to the quarter-finals once more because of our excellent relationship.
Power at the Caja Magica was restored on Tuesday morning after a nationwide blackout that ended Monday’s majority of matches at the venue.
Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to earn his third match point, some 27 hours after his first, won in Bulgaria.
With Dimitrov, the 15th seed, leading 6-4, 5-4, the match was suspended on Monday. Both players held serve until Dimitrov won the tie-break when play resumed on Tuesday.
That illustrates how quickly life can change as well. You serve for the match at one point, and at the other you are about to receive, and then the lights went out,” Dimitrov, who will face Gabriel Diallo, a livid loser, in the fourth round.
Due to an abdominal injury, Matteo Berrettini, a former finalist, retired after Jack Draper won the tiebreak in the opening set.
In the final 16, Draper will face American Tommy Paul.
Alex de Minaur, the sixth-seeded player, defeated Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in a match with Lorenzo Musetti, the next opponent.
The Australian now trails Carlos Alcaraz for the most victories on a tour in 2025 with his 24th win of the year.
The 16th seed, Frances Tiafoe, defeated Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated Alexandre Muller 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
Sabalenka coasts as Swiatek pushes.
In a final-eight showdown with Australian Open champion Madison Keys, Swiatek defeated in the women’s tournament by saving 11 of her 13 break points.
The 23-year-old Swiatek acknowledged she enjoyed being off the grid for a few hours when asked about the power outage.
“Honestly, I liked yesterday; I think everyone was more relaxed, and it’s obvious that those who didn’t lose were.” Swiatek remarked, “I had some time to rest.”
I used the time to relax and not think about what I should do, to be honest.
Aryna Sabalenka, the world’s top female, defeated American Peyton Stearns, who is 44th overall, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last eight.
The 26-year-old Belarusian, who won in Miami in March, will face Anastasia Potapova from Russia or Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine.
Source: Channels TV
Leave a Reply