Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz were stunned in Buenos Aires and Florida respectively as they crashed out of ATP 250 tournaments on Friday. (More Tennis News)
🗹Zverev, the world number two, was the top seed at the Argentina Open, yet came unstuck in the quarter-finals.
🌱Francisco Cerundolo came from a set down to win 3-6 6-3 6-2, leaving Zverev to lick his wounds in his first tournament since his run to the Australian Open final.
ꦦZverev, however, was unhappy with how he was treated by the Argentine crowd.
ꦏ"The only problem is that the public doesn't know how to behave during a tennis match, and that's a bit sad because the tournament is excellent," he said.
⛄"The crowd makes it very difficult for you if you're not Argentine."
🍬Cerundolo will take on Pedro Martinez, who received a walkover against Lorenzo Musetti.
ওThe other semi-final will see ATP Next Gen Finals champion Joao Fonseca take on Laslo Djere.
▨Fonseca claimed a superb 3-6 6-4 7-5 triumph over fan favourite Mariano Navone, saving two match points in the process.
🅘Excluding the Next Gen Finals, Fonseca, at the age of 18 years and 177 days, is the youngest South American to reach a Tour-level event semi-final since Juan Martin del Potro (18 years, 104 days) in Adelaide in 2007.
🐻"Those are the victories that we work for," said the Brazilian.
♊"I was not playing my best and I fought until the end. Since the beginning I believed I could win, even if I wasn’t playing my best, but I fought. I feel amazing."
🥃There was also a big shock at the Delray Beach Open, where two-time reigning champion Fritz lost 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
🔥The world number four broke Fokina when the Spaniard was serving for the match to force the tie-break, but Fritz could not keep up that momentum as his hopes of a three-peat were dashed.
ꦺAlex Michelsen will be the United States' only representative in the last four in Florida after he downed Cameron Norrie 7-6 (7-3) 7-5, gaining a measure of revenge for a defeat to the Brit in Dallas last week.
