Francisco Cerúndolo rallied from two sets down to beat Taylor Fritz 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the US Open on Saturday night, eliminating the highest-seeded American man left in the draw and stretching, for at least one more year, the sport's longest-running domestic storyline: the 23 seasons since a U.S. man last won a Grand Slam singles title.
A Two-Set Lead Slips Away
Fritz, the No. 9 seed, looked fully in control through two sets on Arthur Ashe Stadium, cracking 12 aces and dictating behind his serve against the No. 24-seeded Argentine. But Cerúndolo broke through in the third set, and Fritz's level slid as the match dragged toward four hours; he finished with 54 unforced errors across three hours and 40 minutes, watching a clear path to the second week disappear point by point. Serving at 4-3 in the deciding fifth set, Fritz surged to 40-0 — three points from all but sealing the match — only to lose that game as Cerúndolo swept the final three points, then broke again to close it out, according to the Associated Press account of the match.
It was only the second time in Cerúndolo's career that he has come back from two sets to love down, and it sent him into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time in five main-draw appearances there, the ATP Tour's recap of the match noted.
The result carries weight beyond one box score. Andy Roddick's title at the 2003 US Open remains the last Grand Slam men's singles championship won by an American, and Fritz — a Wimbledon and US Open semifinalist in recent years — had been widely framed entering this fortnight as the group's best chance to end that wait. With him gone in the third round, no American man left in the draw carries comparable seeding or recent Grand Slam pedigree.
Saturday's carnage on Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums went well beyond Fritz. No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli fell to unseeded Belgian Alexander Blockx, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3, and Learner Tien outlasted No. 17 seed Jakub Mensik, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4, in another five-set marathon on the same day. By the tournament's own count, six American men remained in the men's draw heading into Sunday's fourth round — none of them seeded as high as Fritz had been.
Reaction
Fritz was blunt and shaken afterward. "I don't know how I let that happen today," he told reporters immediately after the loss. Pressed further in his press conference, he added: "I don't really want to talk to anybody, see anybody, like I kind of just need to like get out for a couple days and just kinda get back to work."
He was playing way better than me the first two sets. I wasn't feeling comfortable at all. But after I broke back in the third, I started getting into it step by step.
Francisco Cerúndolo
Cerúndolo's assessment matched the shape of the match: a player under siege for two sets who found his range once Fritz's misses began to pile up, then held his nerve through a fifth set that swung on just a handful of points.
Cerúndolo now moves on to face Blockx for a place in the quarterfinals, a rematch of styles between two players who have already spent nearly four hours apiece on court this week. The full US Open scoreboard shows the rest of the men's field reshaping around the void Fritz left behind, with the tournament moving into its second week and the American men's Grand Slam drought now guaranteed to reach a 24th year at minimum.
