Cerundolo edges past Lajal 6-4 6-4 in Cincinnati opener

Juan Manuel Cerundolo came through his Cincinnati first-round match in straight sets, holding off Mark Lajal 6-4 6-4 in a contest decided by narrow margins. The Argentine's first delivery landed only 43.4 percent of the time, but it was close to unplayable when it did: he won 95.7 percent of those points, and still took 60 percent behind the second ball. Lajal was the steadier server on paper, landing 63.2 percent of first serves and winning 75 percent of them, with 71.4 percent on second, yet he struck five aces to Cerundolo's four and paid for two double faults. The win put Cerundolo into the next round of the Masters 1000.