Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante led countryman and top seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 3-1 in the second round of the Rio Open presented by Claro on Wednesday evening when Cerundolo retired due to a back injury.
Fresh off a run to his hometown title at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, Cerundolo made a good start at the Rio de Janeiro ATP 500 event with a straight-sets win against Mariano Navone. But he was unable to make it through his match with Tirante.
“It’s not good to win like this, especially with Fran, one of my friends. Any moment, I didn’t see anything,” Tirante said. “I knew that he was very tired from last week, so I had to improve myself on the court and focus on me.”
After one game in the second set, Cerundolo requested a visit from the physio and received treatment on his back. That did not allow him to push on much longer, though.
Tirante hit an ace to take a 3-1 lead — his seventh ace of the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats — and Cerundolo barely moved for the ball. The top seed then approached the net to shake hands with his friend and retire.
Tirante will next take on Francesco Passaro or Alejandro Tabilo.
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