Kecmanovic, Cerundolo Beat Rio Rain To Reach QFs

Only two of the four singles matches scheduled for Thursday were completed at the Rio Open presented by Claro, with both Miomir Kecmanovic and Francisco Cerundolo advancing in straight sets before rain halted play in Brazil.

The two early winners will face off in the quarter-finals on Friday in the draw’s bottom section.

Qualifier Kecmanovic took out sixth seed Lorenzo Sonego, 7-5, 6-4. The Serb continues to build on a strong start to 2022 that includes a fourth-round run at the Australian Open.

Argentina’s Cerundolo, who qualified and reached the quarter-finals last week in Buenos Aires, was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Roberto Carballes Baena. The Spaniard was a late replacement for Casper Ruud, who was slated to be the tournament’s second seed.

Seventh seed Carlos Alcaraz was two points away from taking the opening set against Federico Delbonis when rain interrupted play. After two forehand winners earned an early break, the Spaniard led 5/4, 30-15 when play was halted.

Top seed Matteo Berrettini was set to take on home favourite Thiago Monteiro in the Rio nightcap. Both matches will be pushed to Friday, with the winners set for double duty on quarter-final day. Should Alcaraz and Berrettini both advance, they would set up a rematch of their Australian Open third-round epic, won by the Italian in fifth-set tie-break.