Francisco Cerúndolo
is the last Argentine hope to reach the round of 16 of the Miami Masters 1000.
After the elimination of Diego Schwartzman, the Buenos Aires native will assume a difficult commitment this Monday against the Canadian
Felix Auger-Aliassime
(6th), one of the best on the circuit and on the hard surface on which the tournament is played.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 2:35 p.m., with ESPN and Star+ television
.
Cerúndolo, who entered directly in the second round of the draw, defeated American
Aleksandar Kovacevic
in his debut by a double 6-4 on court 7 of the Hard Rock Stadium complex, in Miami Gardens.
The 24-year-old from Buenos Aires and 31st in the ATP ranking has been the best Argentine for a few weeks and took a firm first step, although his adversary this Monday will represent a major challenge.
Auger-Aliassime beat the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (81st) in a balanced match that was defined in two tie breaks 7-6 (5) and 7-6 (8).
Schwartzman's losing streak
Photo: AP/Jim Rassol.
Argentinian Diego Schwartzman is still unable to unlock the next level
.
This Sunday, the porteño number 38 in the world ranking was eliminated from the 1,000 Masters in Miami with a logical defeat against the Danish Holger Rune (8th) and could not break that curse of winning two consecutive games: he has not achieved it since the last US Open.
On a hard surface, Rune overcame him with partials of 6-4 and 6-2 to eliminate the good feelings he had felt last Friday, when he had beaten the Chinese Yibing Wu (64th) 7-6 (1) in the second round. and 6-1.
Schwartzman, in three months of competition in 2023, has a record of just three wins and nine losses.
Given some results, he could even break out of the Top 40 at the end of this contest (it's been almost 6 years since he was last outside that range).
The Argentine knows that he has to turn the page quickly, refocus on his tennis and try to defend as many points as possible in the European tour on brick dust, where he had a good performance last season and will force him to be fine.
Rune, for his part, reached the round of 16 of the M1000 in Miami for the first time, where he will meet the American
Taylor Fritz
(10th), who beat the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (30th).
look also
Miami Masters 1,000, day 5: Schwartzman lost to the Danish Rune and is still unable to win two games in a row
