Cerundolo continues impressive 'Golden Swing' in Santiago, Nava breaks American drought
Top seed Francisco Cerundolo earned his sixth clay-court win of the season on Thursday at the BCI Seguros Chile Open in Santiago. The Argentine recorded an opening-round 6-2, 6-2 triumph against Elmer Moller to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event.
Cerundolo lifted the trophy on home soil in Buenos Aires for the first time earlier this month, a moment which the Argentine described as the ‘best moment of his career so far’. After a second-round exit in Rio de Janeiro, the World No. 19 was dominant throughout his 71-minute win against Moller.
In the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, the 27-year-old won 89 per cent of his first-serve points and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
The Argentine will next play Emilio Nava after the 24-year-old defeated Paraguayan qualifier Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 7-5, 6-3 to become the first American quarter-finalist in tournament history. The World No. 79 is also the first American man to reach a tour-level quarter-final on South American clay since Rajeev Ram in 2017 in Quito.
Nava upset the former No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Matteo Berrettini in his first match at the ATP 250 event and then produced a clean-hitting display to down Vallejo and reach his second ATP Tour quarter-final.