Francisco Cerúndolo

Francisco Cerúndolo (born 13 August 1998) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 19 in singles by the ATP, which he achieved on 19 June 2023. He also attained a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 203 in October 2022.
After turning professional in 2018, Cerúndolo made his debut on the ATP Tour at the 2019 Argentina Open, the event at which he later broke through on tour in 2021 after reaching his first ATP singles final and becoming the first qualifier to contend for the title in 20 years. In 2022, Cerúndolo made several more milestones after emerging into the top 100 in singles, reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal in Miami in his first Masters main draw, and winning his first ATP title at the Swedish Open, all of which sealed him a year-end top-30 ranking. At the Grand Slam level, Cerúndolo earned his first wins at the Australian Open and French Open in 2023, where he reached the third and fourth rounds, respectively.
Cerúndolo is the older brother of fellow tennis player Juan Manuel Cerúndolo. In 2021, with the Córdoba Open followed by the Argentina Open, the Cerúndolos became the first brothers to reach consecutive finals on the ATP Tour since Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev in 2017. In 2022, they also became the first brothers to be ranked inside the top 100 in singles since the Zverev brothers in 2019.
Career
2019–2020: ATP debut
Cerúndolo made his ATP main draw debut on home soil at the 2019 Argentina Open in Buenos Aires after receiving a wildcard for the singles main draw, losing to Guido Pella in three sets.
Cerúndolo played another ATP main draw a year later at the 2020 Argentina Open in Buenos Aires after receiving a wildcard for the singles main draw again, losing to Laslo Djere in the first round.
2021: First ATP final, Grand Slam and Olympics debut
In January 2021, he was one of two players to test positive for COVID-19 during the Australian Open qualifying event in Doha.
Cerúndolo reached his first ATP tour final at the 2021 Argentina Open as a qualifier but was defeated by world No. 9 Diego Schwartzman. He was the first qualifier to reach the final in Buenos Aires since José Acasuso in 2001. At the time, Acasuso was coached by Cerúndolo’s father, Alejandro Cerúndolo.
Cerúndolo made his main draw debut in a Grand Slam at the 2021 French Open as a lucky loser, where he lost to Thiago Monteiro.
Cerúndolo qualified to represent Argentina at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
2022: ATP Masters 1000 semifinal, maiden title, top 30
At the 2022 Argentina Open, he reached the quarterfinals of his home tournament as a qualifier defeating Miomir Kecmanović. As a result, he reached the top 100 in the singles rankings, joining Juan Manuel Cerúndolo as the first brothers in the Top 100 at the same time since Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev in May 2019.
Cerúndolo received a Special Exempt into the tournament in Rio the following week. There, he beat Benoît Paire, Roberto Carballés Baena and again Kecmanović to reach his first ATP 500 semifinal, where he lost in straight sets to Diego Schwartzman.
Cerúndolo recorded his first ATP Tour victories on a hard court at the Masters 1000 event in Miami, defeating Tallon Griekspoor and seeded players Reilly Opelka and Gaël Monfils en route to the fourth round. He beat Frances Tiafoe (who defeated his brother Juan Manuel in the third round) in the fourth round to advance to the quarterfinals. He advanced to the semifinals after Jannik Sinner retired during their match due to foot blisters. Ranked World No. 103 at the time, he became the lowest-ranked semifinalist in the history of the Miami Open, and also became the first male player since Jerzy Janowicz in 2012 to reach the semifinals on their Masters 1000 level debut. He lost to 6th seed Casper Ruud in the semifinals in straight sets. Following this result, his ranking rose 52 places to a career-high of World No. 51.
In Båstad, Cerúndolo recorded his first win against a player inside the Top-10 after beating top seed and defending champion Casper Ruud in 3 sets. He proceeded to reach the final after beating Aslan Karatsev and Pablo Carreño Busta. He defeated Sebastián Báez in the final to win his first ATP title. As a result, he reached the top 30 on 18 July 2022 and the top 25 a week later.
At the 2022 Hamburg European Open, he reached the quarterfinals defeating World No. 8 and second seed Andrey Rublev, his second Top-10 win. He reached his second ATP 500 semifinal by beating Aslan Karatsev in three sets.
2023: First Grand Slam win, Latin American No. 1, top 20, Laver Cup debut and first win for South America
Cerúndolo won his two first matches at a Grand Slam at the Australian Open after beating Guido Pella and Corentin Moutet to reach the third round on his debut at this Major.
In Córdoba, Argentina he defeated fellow Argentine Federico Delbonis to reach the quarterfinals but lost to eventual runner-up compatriot Federico Coria. As a result he became Argentine No. 1 and Latin American No. 1 player on 13 February 2023.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina he defeated Yannick Hanfmann and Jaume Munar to reach back to back quarterfinals but lost to Bernabé Zapata Miralles.
At the 2023 Rio Open he reached the round of 16 but lost again to Zapata Miralles.
In Santiago he lost to eventual finalist fellow Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry in the first round.
In Miami he reached the fourth round again at this tournament, recording his first top-10 win of the season against fifth seed and world No. 6 Félix Auger-Aliassime and getting his revenge for his third round loss at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open two weeks earlier. He reached back-to-back quarterfinals at this tournament defeating Lorenzo Sonego.
In Barcelona he defeated world No. 3 Casper Ruud in the third round, his second top-10 win to reach the quarterfinals.
In Madrid he lost in the second round to compatriot Pedro Cachin having a bye in the first round.
In Rome he reached his second Masters quarterfinal of the season defeating Wu Yibing, Grégoire Barrère and world No. 8 Jannik Sinner, for his third top-10 win.
He picked up the second Major win of his career at the French Open, where he defeated Jaume Munar in four sets. Next he defeated lucky loser Yannick Hanfmann. He reached the round of 16 for the first time at a Major defeating ninth seed Taylor Fritz, his fourth top-10 win of the season. He lost to sixth seed Holger Rune in five sets with a fifth set tiebreaker. As a result he reached the top 20 in the rankings on 12 June 2023.
In Eastbourne he became the third Argentinian champion on grass after Guillermo Vilas and Javier Frana, and the first since 1995, defeating Marc-Andrea Hüsler, Zhang Zhizhen, Mackenzie McDonald and second seed Tommy Paul, beating both americans in the same day. He recorded his first win at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships defeating Nuno Borges.
On his debut at the Laver Cup he recorded the first ever win for South America at the event against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Personal life
His younger brother Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (born 2001) is also a tennis player. Juan Manuel was also in his first final and won his first title at the 2021 Córdoba Open one week before his brother's final.
The Cerúndolos became the first brothers to reach consecutive finals on the ATP Tour since 2017, when Alexander Zverev won the title in Rome and Mischa Zverev reached the final in Geneva. In Cordoba, Francisco contested the first ATP Tour event in which his brother was also competing, making them the first Argentine brothers in 40 years to appear in the same tournament.
His younger sister María Constanza Cerúndolo (born 2000) is a field hockey player, who plays at Belgrano Athletic Club and the Argentina national team, his father Alejandro "Toto" Cerúndolo was a tennis player and coach, and his mother María Luz Rodríguez is a sport therapist and was also a tennis player.
He and his siblings are River Plate fans.
ATP career finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 16 (13–3)
Doubles: 3 (1–2)
Performance timelines
Singles
Current through the 2023 US Open.
Record against top 10 players
Cerúndolo's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw matches are considered:
Wins over top 10 players
He has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
References
External links
1998 births
Living people
Argentine male tennis players
Tennis players from Buenos Aires
South Carolina Gamecocks men's tennis players
South American Games medalists in tennis
South American Games silver medalists for Argentina
Tennis players at the 2019 Pan American Games
Pan American Games competitors for Argentina
Olympic tennis players for Argentina
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics