Two ‘lucky losers’ planted in the Masters 1,000 rooms in Madrid

In an epic duel of three sets and two and a half hours, the German Jan Lennard Struff he separated the argentinian Pedro Cachin of the quarterfinals of Madrid Masters 1,000 which he saw close but lost that late in the final set.

Struff and his compatriots Daniel Altmayer They are two players who have been seeded in the Madrid quarterfinals as ‘lucky losers’, meaning they have recovered from the previous stage, something they have only achieved so far. Borna Coric in 2017. Surprisingly, Coric will be Altmaier’s opponent in the quarterfinals, while Struff will be looking for a place in the semifinals against Stefanos Tsitsipas either Barnabas Zapata.

The German won 7-6 (7), 6-7 (7) and 6-3 to advance Struff from the previous stage to an unthinkable situation, a quarterfinal equal to his best performance in a Masters 1000 like the previous weeks he had achieved. in Montecarlo.

Cachín enjoyed his best days as a professional at Caja Mágica. I have never made it to the round of 16 in an event like this. And he is on the verge of being among the eight survivors. He did not hit the pupil of Àlex Corretja, who melted at the end after keeping his cool and standing for the rest of the game.

The South American left the Caja Mágica with solvent victories over the Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh, his compatriot Francisco Cerúndolo and the American Francis Tiafoe and the panorama was opened in his career.

The German, the second play-off to reach this stage in the tournament, with the Munich final as the most notable result of his career, has never been able to win two consecutive games in Madrid in his three previous appearances.