One day after Carlos Alcaraz’s defeat against Fabian Marozsan, two more top 10 players Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev lost in the fourth round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Francisco Cerundolo came back from one set down to beat Jannik Sinner 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-2 reaching his third Masters 1000 quarter final at the Masters 1000 in Rome.
Sinner earned an early break in the first game, but Cerundolo broke back in the fourth game and held serve to take a 3-2 lead. Both players traded breaks in the 11th and 12th games to set up a tie-break. Sinner earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3.
Cerundolo earned a double break in the first and third games to take a 3-0 lead. Sinner clawed one of his two breaks back in the fourth game for 1-3, but Cerundolo broke for the third time to win the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the decider.
Sinner wasn’t able to earn any break points in the third set. Cerundolo broke twice in the first and seventh games to seal the third set 6-2.
“It was a weird match today. There were moments I felt the ball and then for 5-6 points I could not feel it at all and I kept missing. It was one of those days when nothing happens, but I don’t want to take anything away from Francisco. He played a great match and dictated with his forehand”, said Sinner.
Cerundolo has won his past three matches against top 10 players after beating Felix Auger Aliassime in Miami and Casper Ruud in Barcelona.
“I am happy because I have reached my second quarter final at Masters 1000 level. I arrived here with confidence, but I have to show my level when I am the court. I am competitive on all surfaces and this very important to reach a high level on the ATP Tour. I started my career on clay., but I achieved good results on hard court in Indian Wells and Miami”, said Cerundolo.
Cerundolo set up a quarter final against Casper Ruud, who eased past Laslo Djere 6-1 6-3 to reach his second quarter finals. The Norwegian player has dropped just one set so far at this tournament. Ruud will have now a chance to avenge his recent defeat in Barcelona.
Ruud committed nine unforced errors and broke five times.
Djere earned an early break in the first game, but Ruud broke three times to win the first set 6-1. Ruud converted his third break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. The Norwegian sealed the win with his second break on his fourth match point. Ruud has reached the semifinal in Rome twice in his career. This year he won the title in Estoril
“It was a great match from my side. It was a tough start. The first point of the match we were ralliying for 20 shots and he won it. I thought we were going to be here for a while and I was prepared for a long and a tough match. It is always a tough match against Laslo, but it went quicker than I expected. I played really well. To win a first set like this against a player like him who is playing well on clay is a good confidence boost”, said Ruud.
German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann upset this year’s Monte-Carlo champion Andrey Rublev 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 to extend his winning streak to six consecutive matches after starting from the qualifying round. During this tournament he also beat Taylor Fritz en route to the quarter final.
Rublev had beaten Hanfmann in their only previous head-to-head match in the first round at the Australian Open in 2021.
Rublev saved two break points to hold serve in the seventh game. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Both players started the tie-break with four consecutive mini-breaks. Hanfmann earned another mini-break on the fifth point to take a 3-2 lead. Rublev clawed his way back on serve to draw level to 5-5, but Hanfmann closed out the tie-break with his fourth mini-break.
Rublev started the second set with an early break to open up a 2-0 lead. Hanfmann saved two break points to hold serve in the seventh game. Rublev held on his serve to close out the second set 6-4 taking the match to the decider.
Rublev earned an immediate break in the first game of the third set, but Hanfmann broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Hanfmann saved four break points in the third game before earning his second break in the sixth game on his second opportunity to take a 4-2 lead.
Rublev was not able to convert his last chance to break in the ninth game and Hanfmann held his serve at deuce to close out the match after 2 hours and 35 minutes.
“The satisfaction is definitely there after qualifying for the main draw, but it’s short lived, because then once you are there, you want to keep going. I think what helped me in the past is to get in to a match rhythm and go far into the tournament because I have shown that when I get my matches, I am actually dangerous. I won won my first round in Houston and I went far to the semifinal, and in Santiago reaching the quarter finals. It’s nice to have that, to get into a rhythm and then just be dangerous”, said Hanfmann.
