With an Argentine defeat, the sixth day of competition began in the Californian desert.
Because although he played a very good game,
Francisco Cerúndolo
could not beat
Felix Auger-Aliassime
and he was fired in the third round of the
Masters 1000 in Indian Wells
.
The Canadian, eighth favorite, prevailed with a lot of work by 7-5 and 6-4 and got into the top 16 of the contest.
Not before 6:00 p.m.,
Sebastián Báez
will face American
Taylor Fritz
, defending champion.
The porteño, number 32 in the world and currently the first Argentine racket, played a great first set against an opponent who, despite being a year younger, already has more experience than him at the highest level and who asserted his status as favorite at the start of the match.
It is that Auger Aliassime, owner of four titles (all won in 2022), hit from the start, with a break in the opening game, and went ahead 2-0.
But when Cerúndolo led 30-0 in the third game, the Canadian hit his chin with his racket, suffered a small cut and had to be seen by a doctor.
The stoppage, which lasted a few minutes, was good for the Argentine, who seemed to take the opportunity to collect ideas and returned to the field much better.
He closed that service game at nil and in the next one, he pressed and fought until he managed to win back the break and level the score at 2-2.
The match was very close and Francisco lived up to it.
But Auger-Aliassime raised the intensity at the end of the set, stole his serve again in the 11th game and then closed the set with his serve.
Auger-Aliassime imposed conditions in the second chapter, in which he also took advantage very quickly, with a break in the third game.
But unlike the opening set, there was no quick reaction from Cerúndolo.
The Canadian, very solid with his serve, confirmed the break at nil and also won his next service game without giving up a single point, to go up 4-2.
And in the seventh game, he took advantage of a downturn in the Argentine -who made three unforced errors and a double fault- and made another break (5-2).
The world number 8 seemed to have the victory in his hands, but he hesitated too much when he had the chance to close the match.
In the eighth game, he committed three double faults, missed some shots and gave Cerúndolo a break, who scored and ended up 3-5.
And in the tenth, between his own failures and good successes by the Argentine, who never gave up, he needed to play 16 points with his service and six match points, and raise two break chances against, to make it 6-4 and sign his pass to eighth
The Canadian will clash with American
Tommy Paul
, who defeated Polish
Hubert Hurkacz
, ninth seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
With the fall of Cerúndolo, the only Argentine who is still in the race is Báez, who will try to get into the round of 16 when he faces local
Taylor Fritz
-seeded fourth- not before 6:00 p.m.
The Argentine will fight for his first victory against a rival who already beat him at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters and who is currently going through the best moment of his career.
This year, the Californian won the United Cup and the ATP in Delray Beach and was a semifinalist in Dallas and Acapulco.
Whoever wins that key will face in the next instance with the Slovakian Alex Molcan or the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
The Indian Wells Masters 1000 is played on hard courts with $8.8 million in prize money.
Juan Martín Del Potro from Tandil, in 2018, was the only Argentine who won it throughout its history.
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