March 23 (Reuters) - Francisco Cerundolo's love affair with the Miami Open shows no signs of cooling after the Argentine world number 19 stunned Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-0 4-6 7-5 to reach the fourth round on Monday.
The 27-year-old secured his first top-10 victory of the season against the former world number one, who arrived in Florida in peak form after thwarting Carlos Alcaraz's 16-0 start to the season, and finishing as runner-up at Indian Wells.
"I felt good in my first-round match here, and
now I feel way better," said Cerundolo. "I'm recovering that confidence. The level was there, I was just trying to find it. But now, (I am in) the round of 16, so hopefully I can keep it up."
The match began with Cerundolo racing through the opening set, but Medvedev rallied from 1-3 down in the second set to force a decider.
The pair traded high-quality rallies amid the Florida heat, with Cerundolo's forehand aggression disrupting Medvedev, while he produced an instinctive winner to end the two-hour, 17-minute encounter.
"I didn't know what to expect... It was a great match, super tough," Cerundolo added. "It was my first match against Daniil. He's probably one of the only guys on Tour who I have never played. He has had a great year so far, so I didn't expect to be up 6-0 in the first set and a break up in the second."
The match also had an unusual incident in the third set when umpire Mohamed Lahyani almost became entangled with the Spidercam, the aerial camera that flies over the court during matches.
The camera's cables got caught on the umpire's chair, causing the structure to move and forcing Lahyani to step down onto the court quickly to avoid falling. The Swedish umpire subsequently requested that the production team keep the Spidercam from passing so close to his chair or the players.
Cerundolo has long thrived in Miami, highlighted by his semi-final run on his debut in 2022 before adding quarter-final showings in 2023 and 2025. He will next face Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
The defeat ends Medvedev's pursuit of a Tour-leading 20th win of the season, with the 30-year-old exiting Miami with a 19-5 record after already claiming titles in Brisbane and Dubai.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico CityEditing by Christian Radnedge)
