Home » How Andrey Rublev’s defeat in Hamburg affected Francisco Cerundolo

On Thursday, Francisco Cerundolo shocked second-seeded Andrey Rublev in the round of 16 in Hamburg, continuing his impressive form. With the win, Cerundolo extended his winning streak to seven matches, and he is now into the quarterfinals of the Hamburg tournament. He won his first ATP title last week in Bastad.

I believe I just played another great match. According to the ATP website, Cerundolo said, “I felt really comfortable on the court.” During the first three games, I didn’t play too poorly, but he was rock-solid and made few errors.

Then I started to feel better about myself, and I believe I performed quite well today.

After a slow start, Cerundolo was able to recover.

In reality, it was Rublev who got off to a strong start, as the Russian dominated the first three games and held a commanding 3-0 advantage. In the fifth game, Cerundolo got the break back, but Rublev broke again to take a 4-2 lead in the first set.

Even though it appeared that momentum had swung back to Rublev’s side, Cerundolo won the next four games in a row, erasing the deficit, and stealing the opening match. Cerundolo won in straight sets after taking the first set and breaking Rublev twice in the second.

Over the past few weeks, 23-year-old Cerundolo has been playing the best tennis of his life, and he has never felt more confident in his game. It’s great to have such self-assurance, Cerundolo said.

‘This is the first time anything like this has ever occurred to me. The fact that I can hold my own against the best players in the world is mind boggling. I really happy with my game and my head, because I am keeping my concentration and playing the whole match well”.

Following his win over Daniel Elahi Galan Riveros, Cerundolo will face Aslan Karatsev. Cerundolo’s chances of making it to the semifinals in Hamburg depend on whether or not he can maintain his current level of play.