Another impact from Francisco Cerúndolo: he dropped Ruud, three in the world, and achieved the best victory of his career

Francisco Cerúndolo

gave a great hit at the

and in the process scored

.

The man from Buenos Aires, 32nd in the world, beat Norwegian

7-6 (7-5) 6-3 , the third favorite in the tournament, and reached the quarterfinals.

It was his

.

"It's always very nice to beat the best. You train and play every week to get these victories," said the Argentine, happy, who also assured that he was very happy with the "great game" he played against a very tough opponent like Ruud. 

In the quarterfinals -this Friday, in the last turn of the central court (close to 13 in our country)-, Francisco will collide with the British

(26th in the ranking), who defeated the Russian

(11th).

"I expect a very difficult match because he is a different player, he changes your rhythm all the time, he serves and nets you, he tries to make you play badly and he is an incredible competitor. I will try to play my game, overwhelm him where I can and compete like all matches" anticipated the clash against Evans. 

Fran Cerúndolo and her joy after beating Ruud.

Photo: Capture TV.

Cerúndolo - who had made his debut on Wednesday with a comfortable victory over the Italian

(125th) 6-2, 6-2 - played a great game against one of the slow court specialists on the circuit.

Although he had to come back from a big deficit to take the first set. 

Because Ruud took advantage of the Argentine's first weak serve game and got a break to be 3-1 up.

The man from Buenos Aires did not despair and patiently went to seek recovery against an opponent who had to work hard to win their service games, but who responded well under pressure.

The Norwegian was 5-2 on the scoreboard

and it seemed that he had the set in his pocket.

However, Cerúndolo finally got the break, in a game in which he also raised two set points from the world number 3, scored for 4-5 and then forced the tie break, which he won by the slightest difference.

The momentum of that recovery gave new energy to

.

Then he dedicated himself to taking care of that advantage and ended up closing the game, after one hour and 53 minutes, with a right cross that was unattainable for Ruud. 

Cerúndolo added his second victory against Ruud and leads the history of confrontations with the Norwegian by 2-1.

EFE/ Alejandro Garcia

Cerúndolo, the only representative of our country that is still in the Catalan tournament, had as his best victory the one he had also achieved last year against Ruud, in the round of 16 of the ATP in Bastad, where he later won his first -and so far

title in the most important circuit of men's tennis.

But the Scandinavian was located at that moment in the fifth step of the classification.

He today he is in the third.

The one he celebrated this Thursday was also 

(4-6 record).

In addition to the two celebrations against Ruud, he beat

in the second round of Hamburg 2022 , when the Russian was eighth;

and, a few weeks ago, in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Miami, the Canadian

, sixth in the standings.

This latest victory against the Norwegian - who left the record between the two 2-1 in their favor - marked a new milestone in the career of the 24-year-old from Buenos Aires, who also next Monday will once again be the highest ranked Argentine in the ATP.

It is that his good performance in Barcelona has already ensured him to climb to at least 30th place and surpass

, who this week was quickly eliminated in Munich and will drop two places, to 32nd. 

The contest, which is played on the clay court of the Real Club de Tenis in the Catalan city, will distribute prizes for a total of 2,872,435 euros and has the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, number two in the top

. world.

The 19-year-old from Murcia, winner this year at the

and the

, won 6-3, 7-5 against his compatriot

(25th) and advanced to the quarterfinals.

In that instance he will collide with another representative of his country,

(38th), winner in the round of 16 by 6-4 and 7-5 of the Finn

(40th).

The one who also did not give rise to surprises was

, second seeded.

The Greek, ranked fifth, defeated 14th-seeded

Canadian

He will go to the semifinals against

, 8th, who advanced without playing after the loss of the Bulgarian

due to illness.

In the other matches of the day, the Italian

, 4th, beat the Japanese

, 16th, 6-1, 4-6 and 6-3, and will clash in the quarterfinals with his compatriot

, 9th, who He lowered the British

, 7th, by beating him 3-6, 6-4 and 6-1.

Throughout its history, the Count of Godó had two Argentine champions:

in 1987 and

in 2002.