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Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina beat Gael Monfils of France 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 in a thrilling first-round match at the Paris Masters on Tuesday, October 31. The 25-year-old Argentine emerged as the winner after a titanic battle that lasted for almost three hours.
The 37-year-old Frenchman was visibly frustrated after losing the battle on his home soil. Cerundolo will face eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway in the second round on Wednesday (November 1). While Ruud will be the favorite, Cerundolo should prove to be no pushover either.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match against Monfils:
#1 Cerundolo was very error-prone in the first two sets
Cerundolo tried to make Monfils move from side to side from the very beginning. However, the Argentine had to play tough angles in order to do that and often ended up playing his shots out of the court in the process.
Monfils, meanwhile, kept imparting top spin into his forehand to take the pace off the ball and forcing Cerundolo to stay in the rally longer.
The unforced errors committed by Cerundolo helped Monfils take control of the first set by breaking the former and taking a crucial 1-0 lead. Cerundolo committed 16 errors in the first set itself, while Monfils committed nine.
Cerundolo changed his approach in the second set and became more disciplined in his shotmaking. He broke the Frenchman early to take a 3-1 lead, but the latter broke back to draw level and take the set into a tie-break.
However, the Argentine then raced to a 4-0 lead in the tie-break before winning it comfortably. The two players committed 15 unforced errors each in the second set.
#2 Cerundolo used the drop shots well from the second set
Cerundolo started using his drop shots more frequently from the second set onwards to drag Monfils to the net repeatedly. However, the Frenchman got an early break of serve to go ahead in the third set.
Still, the Argentine managed to break back to draw level and then broke Monfils once again to win the set and the match. The key stats of the two players were pretty much even, but Cerundolo won by virtue of playing slightly better during the key moments in the match. Both players were broken five times in the match.
