Stefanos Tsitsipas battled past Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) in the last match of the night session to reach the second round at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Tsitsipas broke serve in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Cerundolo saved two break points to hold serve in the fourth game. Tsitsipas held on his next service games and served out the first set at love.
Tsitsipas broke in the first game to open up a 2-0 lead. Cerundolo saved three break points in the third game to hold serve after three deuces. Tsitsipas earned two break points to lead by a set and 5-2.
Cerundolo broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Tsitsipas went up a 3-1 lead in the tie-break, but Cerundolo clawed back by winning six consecutive points with three mini-breaks to clinch the tie-break 7-3.
Tsitsipas saved three break points to hold serve for 4-3 after five deuces in the seventh game. Both players went on serve until the 11th game when Cerundolo broke serve to take a 6-5 lead earning a chance to serve for the match. Tsitsipas broke straight back to draw level to 6-6 to send the third set to the tie-break. Cerundolo earned a mini-break to take a 4-2 lead. Tsitsipas won five five consecutive points to clinch the decisive tie-break 7-4 in a rollercoaster match after 2 hours and 32 minutes.
Tsitsipas clinched his second top 30 win on hard-court this season. The 26-year-old player has returned to Basel for the first time since since 2019. He is aiming to win his second title of the season following Monte-Carlo and his second hard-court title in the past four seasons.
Holger Rune edged past Nicholas Jarry 6-4 7-6 (7-3). Rune converted his second break in the first game and held serve at 30 to open up a 2-0 lead. The Danish player, who reached the Basel final in 2022, served out held on his service games and served out on his first set point in the 10th game. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Rune raced out to a 5-1 lead with two mini-breaks. Jarry pulled one mini-break back but Rune earned his third mini-break to take a 7-3 lead.
Ben Shelton beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4 6-4 with a break in each set Shelton broke serve in the sixth game at 15 to take a 4-2 lead. The US player saved a break point in the seventh game to hold serve at deuce for 5-2 and served out on the first set point in the eighth game.
Shelton converted his only break point in the fifth game. He held his next service games and closed out on his first match point. Shelton dropped just six points on his first serve and saved the only break point he faced.
Shelton moved into the top 20 of the ATP Live Ranking joining number 6 Taylor Fritz, number 12 Tommy Paul and number 15 Frances Tiafoe in the elite club.
“I went into the match with a lot of confidence because of the way I have playing. This is the type of surface I am comfortable on and my game is coming together really well. Two more tournaments this year and I am pushing strong to the end”, said Shelton.
Dominic Stricker beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-4 6-4 to claim just hist fourth tour level win of the season. Stricker fired 14 aces and won 31 of 35 first serve points.
