Fritz crashes out of U.S. Open third round to Cerundolo

Francisco Cerundolo recovered from losing the first two sets to defeat Taylor Fritz in a five-set U.S. Open battle and reach the fourth round for the first time. The Argentine won 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.

Fritz had not dropped a set in his opening two matches and appeared to be one of the leading candidates to end a 23-year wait for an American men’s major champion. Instead, the 2024 runner-up suffered his earliest U.S. Open exit in four years.

The American saved 11 of the 13 break points he faced in the first two sets and had moved through his second-round match in little more than 90 minutes. But after the players traded early breaks in the third set, Cerundolo raised his level while Fritz began making unusual errors.

“He was playing way better than me the first two sets,” Cerundolo said after playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time. “I started getting into it step by step and I think fourth and fifth I played really good tennis. I wasn’t finding that tennis in the previous sets, previous rounds.”

Cerundolo repeatedly forced Fritz to sprint along the baseline with powerful, accurate shots. During the ninth game of the final set, Fritz’s shoelace snapped while he served at 15-40. The interruption did not slow Cerundolo, who broke when Fritz sent the next ball into the net and sealed the match with a backhand winner. He will next play Belgian Alexander Blockx or Italian Flavio Cobolli.

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He was playing way better than me the first two sets. I started getting into it step by step and I think fourth and fifth I played really good tennis. I wasn’t finding that tennis in the previous sets, previous rounds.