By Richard Pagliaro | Tennis Now | Wednesday March 30, 2022
In his Masters 1000 debut, world No. 103 Francisco Cerundolo charged into the Miami Open semifinals after Jannik Sinner retired with a blister.
Photo Source: Getty
March madness is alive in Miami thanks to Francisco Cerundolo.
In his Masters 1000 debut, Cerundolo continues to pull off the improbable inspiring flag-waving Argentinean fans in the process.
The 103rd-ranked Argentinean held a 4-1 lead over Jannik Sinner when the ninth-seeded Italian retired from today’s quarterfinal propelling Cerundolo into the Miami Open semifinals.
“It’s everything I wanted and everything I dreamed of,” Cerundolo said. “First Masters 1000, first semifinals…This is gonna change everything for me now.”
The best run of Cerundolo's career is historic: he's the lowest-ranked semifinalist in tournament history.
"Today my emotions are, I don't know, weird, because I wanted to play, I wanted to try to win the match in a correct way," Cerundolo said. "Yeah, yesterday I was delighted. I was really happy. I couldn't believe it, reaching quarterfinals. Now I'm in the semifinals, but I think tomorrow or tonight I would be more happy for what I have done these two weeks, and hopefully it doesn't end. I want to play my best on Friday and try to win and make to the finals."
Sinner retired due to a blister on his right foot after just 22 minutes of play.
“It's a blister, and I couldn't move,” Sinner said. “Last game against Nick [Kyrgios], I had felt it, and today I tried but it didn't work.”
The 2021 Miami Open finalist heard jeers from some fans, who had seen fifth-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa pull the plug after five games in the day’s first quarterfinal on Stadium court. Sinner said he developed blisters at the end of his win over Kyrgios yesterday and exacerbated the issue during a slide in the opening game today.
“It was yesterday in the last game, as I said, and now today I wanted to try, because maybe was better,” Sinner said. “I made first game one slide, and I felt worse and then I couldn't move.”
It’s a painful end to a promising tournament for Sinner, who fought off three match points against Emil Ruusuvuori in round two, fended off another five match points rallying past Pablo Carreno Busta in the third round and looked sharp defeating Kyrgios in a wild Grandstand clash yesterday.
“It's tough. I mean, I played two tournaments, Indian Wells and Miami, both retired,” Sinner said. “It's tough because I was playing good. Yesterday also against Nick I was playing a very good match. It's tough to accept. So yeah.
The most improbable success story of this Miami Open continues. Cerundolo toppled No. 18 Reilly Opelka in the second round for his first career Top 20 win then stunned No. 24 Gael Monfils in the third round before surprising 31st-ranked Frances Tiafoe in the round of 16.
The 6’1”, 175-pound Cerundolo packs a much bigger punch than his size suggests. Throughout this run through the draw, Cerundolo has hammered his forehand with ambition, played with passion and showed a growing comfort level playing up closer to the baseline than he has previously on red clay.
It's all come together against a variety of challenging opponents as Cerundolo has posted his biggest career wins this week.
The 23-year-old Buenos Aires-born baseliner does damage on dirt: Cerundolo scored seven wins to reach the 2021 Buenos Aires final as a qualifier and backed up that result with runs to the Buenos Aires quarterfinals and Rio semifinals last month bowing to compatriot Diego Schwartzman on both occasions. Hard courts have been a hard road for Cerundolo, who arrived in Miami without an ATP main-draw win on hard courts
This remarkable run has spiked Cerundolo’s ranking to a career-high No. 51 and he will go higher if he can maintain the magic against either sixth-seeded Casper Ruud or second-seeded Alexander Zverev, who face off tonight.