Francisco Cerundolo continues impressive ‘golden swing’ in San Diego, Emilio Nava breaks US drought | ATP Tour
match report
Cerundolo continues impressive ‘golden swing’ in San Diego, Nava breaks U.S. drought
Nava becomes first U.S. team to advance to quarterfinals in tournament history
February 26, 2026
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Francisco Cerundolo won the ATP 250 title in Buenos Aires earlier this month.
Sam Jacott
Top seed Francisco Cerundolo earned his sixth clay-court victory of the season at the BCI Seguros Chile Open in Santiago on Thursday. The Argentine defeated Elmer Moller 6-2, 6-2 in the first round to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event.
Cerundolo lifted the trophy for the first time on his home soil in Buenos Aires earlier this month, a moment the Argentinian described as “the best moment of his career so far”. After suffering a second-round exit in Rio de Janeiro, the world No. 19 dominated in a 71-minute win over Moller.
“I grew up on clay courts my whole life,” Serendolo said. “I developed my game on clay so I always try to do that [well] on this surface. I’m doing better and better every year. I’m very happy with my level and my performance last week and this year. I feel really good on clay. “
In the pair’s first Lexus ATP meeting, the 27-year-old won 89 per cent of first-serve points and faced no break points, according to Infosys ATP Statistics.
The Argentine will next face 24-year-old Emilio Nava, who became the first American to reach the quarterfinals in tournament history with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Paraguay qualifier Adolfo Daniel Vallejo. The world No. 79 player is also the first American player to reach the tour-level quarterfinals on South American clay since Kiddo Rajiv Ram in 2017.
Nava defeated former PIF ATP No. 6 Matteo Berrettini in his first match at the ATP 250 event and then defeated Vallejo with a clean performance to reach the ATP Tour quarterfinals for the second time.
