Alexander Blockx beat Francisco Cerundolo in four sets on Monday to become the first Belgian man ever to reach the US Open quarter-finals. The 21-year-old Blockx, seeded 28th in his Flushing Meadows debut, out-lasted 24th-seeded Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Blockx, who upset fifth-seeded Flavio Cobolli in the third round, backed up that win with a determined performance during which he received “magical medication” from the doctor to combat a “sharp pain in my rib. “I was just holding on to be honest,” Blockx said. “Even though I won that first set 6-3, it could have been the other way round.”
Alexander Blockx beat Francisco Cerundolo in four sets on Monday to become the first Belgian man ever to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
Later, Blockx told reporters he might have retired had he lost the third set. “I was just hanging in there, but I think if I would have lost the third set, I think the chances were really high of me retiring. So if you feel that much pain while having a lot of medication, that’s not a good sign. “It would have been a shame if I would have retired and then it got better afterwards. I was just lucky. Blockx worked his way back with big serves and booming strokes, holding serve and breaking Cerundolo in the next game to take the third set. A tight fourth set went with serve until Blockx gained the winning break in the final game, falling to the ground in delight when a shot from the Argentine landed out.
“I was really close to retiring, to be honest,” he said. But “eventually it got better,” he said. “This morning I stepped onto this court for the first time to warm up and that felt unreal, so to play a match here and win a match here is even crazier,” Blockx said
“Even before the match I was already under medication, and during the match I had medication.
