Match Report
Cerundolo ends 17-year-old Engel’s Almaty run, Tabilo advances
Fifth seed Machac continues red-hot type
October 16, 2024
Andrey Udartsev / KTF.kz
Francisco Cerundolo is chasing his second title of the season.
By Sam Jacot
#NextGenATP 17-year-old Justin Engel made historical past on Monday on the Almaty Open the place he grew to become the primary participant born in 2007 or later to win an ATP Tour match. However his run on the ATP 250 grinded to a halt on Wednesday when fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo moved previous the German wild card 6-4, 7-6(3).
Engel, who defeated Coleman Wong on his tour-level debut, put up a struggle in opposition to Cerundolo in an absorbing 90-minute conflict. He battled again from a break down within the second set to finally drive a tie-break and confirmed flashes of brilliance, putting 15 winners.
Nonetheless, Cerundolo was the extra constant, committing 9 fewer unforced errors (24-35) within the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly to seal his spot within the quarter-finals.
“It’s at all times troublesome to play a brand new man,” Cerundolo stated. “I do not know the way he performs and he’s a younger man who has nothing to lose, so he performs freely. I believe it was a managed match from my aspect on my service video games till 5-4 once I served and missed a number of straightforward forehands.
“After that it was troublesome to shut the match as a result of he began enjoying very well however fortunately I completed it within the tie-break.”
The fourth seed has now recorded 30 tour-level wins in a season for the second time in his profession, having earned 39 in 2023. Into his first hard-court quarter-final of the 12 months, the Argentine will subsequent meet qualifier Aslan Karatsev or Alexander Shevchenko.
Engel grew up idolising Rafael Nadal and balanced tennis with kickboxing till he was 12. The German, who lived in Moldova for 3 years together with his grandparents, gained his maiden ITF World Tennis Tour occasion in Could in Villach, Austria.
The No. 458 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings has gained three additional ITF titles since, and earlier this month notched his maiden ATP Challenger Tour main-draw victories to succeed in the quarter-finals at an occasion in Villena, Spain.
Second seed Alejandro Tabilo made a profitable begin in Almaty, cruising previous German Maximilian Marterer 6-2, 6-4. The Chilean is aiming to rediscover his finest type this week, having misplaced 9 of his 10 earlier matches previous to Wednesday’s win.
Earlier this 12 months, the 27-year-old gained titles in Auckland and Mallorca. Tabilo will play Gabriel Diallo within the quarter-finals.
The No. 2 seed will get it accomplished 👊
Tabilo powers previous Marterer 6-2 6-4 to maneuver into the quarter-finals in Almaty!@ktf_kz | #AlmatyOpen pic.twitter.com/pzkk23tLMG
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 16, 2024
Canadian Diallo defeated Croatian Borna Coric 7-6(1), 6-4 to succeed in the quarter-finals at a tour-level occasion for the primary time. The 23-year-old, who got here via qualifying to advance to the third spherical on the US Open in August, saved each break factors he confronted in line with Infosys ATP Stats to advance after one hour and 46 minutes.
Fifth seed Tomas Machac continued his spectacular latest type with a 6-3, 6-4 win in opposition to Kazakhstan wild card Timofey Skatov.
Machac reached his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Shanghai final week, defeating World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in straight units within the quarter-finals. The Czech additionally superior to the final 4 in Tokyo on the finish of September.
Machac is No. 25 within the PIF ATP Rankings and the highest-ranked participant with out an ATP Tour title. The 24-year-old is aiming to vary that in Almaty, the place he’ll subsequent meet Beibit Zhukayev.
In first-round motion, Australian Aleksandar Vukic defeated countryman James Duckworth 6-4, 7-5. Vukic will face eighth seed Adrian Mannarino within the second spherical.
