Argentines Schwartzman, Cerundolo to meet in Rio semifinals

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman and countryman Francisco Cerundolo will meet in the semifinals of the Rio Open clay-court tournament.

Third-seeded Schwartzman beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 in the delayed quarterfinals on Saturday. Hours earlier, Cerundolo topped Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Quarterfinals and semifinals are being played on Saturday due to heavy rain falling in Rio de Janeiro during the week. The semifinals are scheduled for the evening.

Schwartzman said after the almost four-hour match that he is not sure whether he will be fit to play in the semifinals and asked organizers for more rest.

“We have to take care of players. Entering the court within two hours to play a semifinal would be an embarrassment,” Schwartzman said. “I don’t know whether I will be able to play. If ATP gives me time to rest it will be a good match.”

Fabio Fognini advanced to the last four with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Argentina’s Federico Coria. The Italian next plays top-seeded Matteo Berrettini or 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.

The last match of the quarterfinals was in the second game of the third set — with Alcaraz ahead 1-0 and Berrettini serving — when rain forced another suspension. Alcaraz won the opening set 6-2 and Berrettini the second set by the same score.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports