A personal best of 45.76 seconds for the 400 m opened Cisneros' 2009 season, but it was at this point that he began to focus more on the 400 m hurdling event. He ran a personal best of 49.49 seconds to win the gold at the 2009 ALBA Games and also helped defend Cuba's relay title. At the Barrientos Memorial he improved his best by almost half a second, running a time of 48.87 seconds to become the second Cuban under 49 seconds after Yacnier Luis. He was a little short of this form at July's 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, where he finished in fourth place, but he did win a consecutive relay gold medal for Cuba at the competition. He made his individual global debut at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and came fifth in his 400 m hurdles semi-final, clocking a time of 49.21 seconds.