ATP Tour

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.

"I grew up my whole life playing on clay," Cerundolo said. "I developed my game on clay, so I try to always do [well] on this surface. I have been doing better and better every year. I am super happy with my level and how I have been playing the last week and this year. I am feeling really good on clay."

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.

In other second-round action on Thursday, Sebastian Baez successfully bounced back from a first-round exit in Rio de Janeiro, when he defeated home hope Cristian Garin 7-6(2), 1-6, 7-5 in a clash of former champions. With the victory, the 2024 winner marched into his fifth consecutive quarter-final at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

“Everything [is special here], the people, the tournament, the conditions,” Baez said. “The crowd today was good because I played a Chilean guy. Thank you for the respect."

The Argentine will next face Alejandro Tabilo in a rematch of the 2024 final, won by Baez.

The eighth-seeded Tabilo overcame Thiago Agustin Tirante 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 just six days after beating the Argentine in the Rio de Janeiro quarter-finals. Tabilo finished runner-up in Rio de Janeiro, only falling to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in a three-hour, four-minute final.