By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday October 17, 2023
Diego Schwartzman captured a big win over Francisco Cerundolo, while Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Casper Ruud also advanced in Tokyo.
Photo Source: TTV
Diego Schwartzman is surging to life this autumn.
The Argentinian notched his third Top-30 win of the last two weeks, defeating compatriot Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-1 in 60 minutes on Tuesday in Tokyo, to set a second-round clash with Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Schwartzman, 31 years of age and down to 113 in the rankings this week, entered Tokyo with a dismal 12-23 record on the season, but his last two weeks have seen a refreshing uptick.
After wins over Luca Van Assche, 30th-ranked Jiri Lehecka and 8th-ranked Taylor Fritz at Shanghai, where he reached the round of 16, Schwartzman clipped the wings of 22nd-ranked Cerundolo for his 250th career ATP win.
Schwartzman had gone more than a year without a win over a Top-30 talent, so his recent wins come as a very pleasant surprise.
The Buenos Aires native is the tenth man from Argentina to hit that level, joining a legendary group that is headed by Giullermo Vilas.
All-time wins by Argentinian men, Open Era:
951: Guillermo Vilas
439: Juan Martin del Potro
383: David Nalbandian
378: Jose-Luis Clerc
342: Juan Monaco
326: Juan Ignacio Chela
301: Martin Jaite
270: Gaston Gaudio
252: Guillermo Canas
250: Diego Schwartzman
Fritz and De Minaur Boost Turin Bid
De Minaur took out Jack Draper 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(1), in three hours and four minutes, to keep his thin hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals alive. De Minaur is 595 points behind Holger Rune (the Dane is No.8 in the race) at the moment.
Fritz, who is currently ninth in the race, defeated Cameron Norrie, 6-4, 6-3. Fritz is 145 points behind Rune. The Dane is in action as the top seed in Stockholm this week.
Fritz fired 13 aces to improve to 52-21 on the season. He is one of five ATP players with more than 50 wins this season.