francisco cerundolo

Biography

Overview
Cerundolo made a strong debut at his first Laver Cup appearance with Team World in Vancouver last year, where he withstood the pressure of first-day nerves to win the second match on Friday against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, setting his team on the path to its overall victory in the competition. While learning to play tennis on clay, Cerundolo has proven to be a dangerous opponent on all surfaces, last year claiming his second ATP Tour career singles title at Eastbourne on grass, reaching the final at Lyon on clay, and the last eight at the Miami Masters 1000 on hard courts. His best results in 2024 have come on clay, where he picked up a third singles title in Umag.

Off Court
Francisco was born into a family of sports lovers: his father, Alejandro, played pro tennis, and his younger brother, Juan Manuel, is a top 100 ATP player, while his sister, Constanza, plays elite-level hockey. ‘Fran’ – as he is nicknamed – started playing tennis at the age of five and his parents now run a tennis academy in Buenos Aires. Since taking up a tennis scholarship at the University of Carolina, he has continued to study management through remote learning at the University of Palermo. An avid singer, his favorite musicians are Bad Bunny and Bob Marley, while his tennis idols growing up were Roger Federer and David Nalbandian.

Career
Cerundolo defeated Tommy Paul in the final at Eastbourne last year, becoming the first Argentine to win an ATP Tour grass-court title since Javier Frana in 1995 (Nottingham). This year he excelled on clay, claiming a third ATP singles title at Umag. He reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro and upset fifth-seed Alexander Zverev en route to the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid. Cerundolo upset 14th seed Paul again at Roland Garros in their third-round match, before pushing No.1 Novak Djokovic to five sets in the Round of 16. He won his first ATP singles title in 2022 at Bastad, defeating then No.5-ranked Ruud.

2024 Highlights
Winner: Umag
Semifinals: Rio de Janeiro
Quarterfinals: Bucharest, Madrid, Hamburg
R16: Roland Garros
3R: Indian Wells, Paris Olympics