Francisco Cerundolo was a massive underdog before the match even began, and then he trailed by two sets and a break in the third.
Completely out of nowhere, however, Cerundolo stormed back to stun Taylor Fritz 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in round three of the U.S. Open on Saturday afternoon. The Argentine, who also recovered from a 0-40 hole at 3-4 in the fifth, prevailed after three hours and 40 minutes.
“I don’t even know what to say,” the 10th-ranked American lamented during his post-match press conference. “I don’t really want to talk to anybody (or) see anybody. I kind of just need to get out for a couple days and then just kind of get back to work. I don’t know how I let that happen today.”
Cerundolo doesn’t know, either.
“I don’t know,” the Argentine said when asked how he came back. “He was playing way better than me the first two sets. After I broke back in the third, I started getting into it step by step. In the fourth and fifth I played really good tennis. I knew how difficult it is to play against him. And winning here on my first time on Ashe is fantastic.
“It’s incredible (in Ashe). I started the match a little bit nervous and tight. But it was great. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Hopefully I can have you on my side in the next round.”
Speaking of the next round, four Americans — Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Alex Michelsen — already booked their spot in the second week on Friday. In fact, all four singles matches in the bottom half of the draw on Sunday will have a player from the host nation involved.
In the top half, though, Fritz improbably failed to join them in the last 16.
shocker
Not for some of us….
Yeah, I’ve seen Fritz fizzle like that before. Cerundolo played well though and had beaten him before.
I thought Tien or Nakashima were more likely; of course Nakashima was out R1! At least Tien is in the same half of the draw as Fritz was, away from Alcaraz’ half.
Not too surprising that Fritz lost but surprising that he lost to Cerundolo