FRancisco Cerúndolo (20th seed), the only Argentine still competing in the Miami Masters 1000, will play this Monday against the Russian Karen Khachanov (15th) for a place in the round of 16 of the tournament played on the hard courts of Miami Gardens.
Cerúndolo, who comes from beating the Austrian Sebastiano Ofner with 7-6 (2), 6-7 (2) and 6-1 in the second round, he will have to fight against the powerful serve of Khachanov, 27 years old, author of an excellent debut against the Serbian Laslo Djerewho he defeated 6-2 and 6-4.
It is the third time that the Argentine and the Russian meet on the ATP circuit. The two previous duels were in the hands of the European, who prevailed in the second round of the 2022 edition of the Montreal Masters 1000 by 7-6 (4), 5-7 and 6-3 and last year, in the quarter-finals final the Masters 1000 in Miami, when he won with a double 6-3.
The Miami tournament suits the eldest of the Cerúndolo brothers very well. This is his third participation and to the aforementioned quarter-finals of 2023 we must add his shocking arrival in the semi-final in 2022. On that occasion he became the player with the lowest ranking – he was 103rd – to reach the prelude to the semi-final in this Masters. 1000 and the first tennis player to reach the semi-finals in his first appearance in a competition of this caliber since Jerzy Janowicz did it in Paris 2012.
Source: Clarin
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