By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, July 21, 2022
Francisco Cerundolo stopped second-seeded Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-2 to score his seventh straight win and roll into the Hamburg quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Getty
Francisco Cerundolo continues to turn the 2022 season into his breakout bash.
Cerundolo broke serve four times in a row igniting a 6-4, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Andrey Rublev that sends him into the Hamburg European Open quarterfinals.
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On Sunday, Cerundolo conquered compatriot Sebastian Baez 7-6(4), 6-2 in an all-Argentine final to claim his first ATP title on the red clay of Bastad.
Today, Cerundolo won 19 of 27 points played on Rublev's second serve to score his second Top 10 victory in as many weeks following his win over Casper Ruud last week.
The 30th-ranked Cerundolo posted his seventh straight victory to set up a Hamburg quarterfinal against Aslan Karatsev.
Earlier, Karatsev rallied past qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour, 55 minutes.
World No. 37 Karatsev reached his fourth quarterfinal of the season and second straight on clay following his run to the Bastad quarters where he lost to Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 last week.
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz fought off four set points in the 10th game subduing Filip Krajinovic 7-6(4), 6-3 in a pulsating battle.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz improved to 22-2 on clay this season advancing to his seventh quarterfinal.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Krajinovic couldn't handle a dipping pass and fell into a love-40 triple break point hole.
The Serbian saved all three, deploying the serve-and-volley on the third break point, to draw even at deuce. The Serbian smacked a backhand drive volley for set point. Krajinovic netted a forehand on his first set point.
On his second set point, Krajinovic scattered a forehand long.
A sloppy Alcaraz missed a forehand down the line ceding a third set point, but Krajinovic narrowly overshot the baseline with a backhand. A fourth set point slipped when Krajinovic pushed a backhand wide.
Krajinovic knocked off a volley to force the tiebreaker.
Down 2-4 in the tiebreaker, Alcaraz erupted for five winners in a row including four massive forehands in succession to snatch the opening set.
Alcaraz closed in one hour, 52 minutes and will play Karen Khachanov for a place in the final.
The seventh-seeded Khachanov won the final three games in a 6-4, 7-5 win over Fabio Fognini. Khachanov saved seven of eight break points in a one hour, 42 minute victory.