Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo rallied from one set down to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 4-6 6-3 7-5 at the Movistar Chile Open in Santiago de Chile. Cerundolo has reached his 13th ATP Tour semifinal.
Cerundolo earned his first head-to-head win in his three head-to-head matches against Etcheverry.
Cerundolo hit 31 winners, including 21 behind his forehand.
Cerundolo converted on 11 of 14 break points. He earned the crucial break in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead and served out the match after 2 hours and 54 minutes.
In their previous head-to-head matches Etcheverry beat Cerundolo twice in Santiago in 2023 en route to the final and in a five-set battle at last year’s edition of the US Open.
“Today was a really tough match. Tomas is an incredible player, incredible fighter, incredible friend. He’s one of my best friends on Tour. It’s really difficult to play against him. I think we both played really nervous today. We played well but I think we both were a little bit tight, nervous. I think we played a really good match and it was really close.”, said Cerundolo.
Cerundolo set up a semifinal clash against Serbia’s Laslo Djere, who battled past Jamie Faria 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 after 2 hours and 42 minutes. Djere saved 11 of the 14 break points he faced.
Sebastian Baez beat Damir Dzumhur 6-4 6-4. The match featured 10 match points. Baez is chasing a back-to-back title in as many weeks following his win in last week’s final in Rio de Janeiro. The Argentine player has reached his fourth consecutive semifinal in Santiago.
Baez set up a re-match of last week’s semifinal in Rio de Janeiro against Ugo Camillo Carabelli, who beat Federico Coria 6-4 6-3.
Baez beat Carabelli in three sets in Rio de Janeiro.
