ATP Miami: Talented siblings, model student, pure earthling… The 5 things to know about sensation Francisco Cerundolo

Tennis, a family affair

If Francisco Cerundolo is a professional tennis player, it is no coincidence. Before him, his father Alejandro was, even if the latter never won a match on the main circuit and was at best the 309th player in the world. This common passion was also passed on to “Fran’s” little brother, Juan Manuel, who created a sensation last year by going for the title in Cordoba after qualifying (8 wins in a row), and this at only 19 years old.

If the two brothers have templates quite close to each other, Francisco is right-handed, while Juan Manuel is left-handed. Note that in February, for the space of two weeks, they were both part of the Top 100 at the same time, a first for two brothers since the Zverev siblings in May 2019. And the family’s taste for sport Cerundolo does not stop there since their sister Constanza is a talented player of… field hockey. She also won the Youth Olympic Games with Argentina in 2018, scoring 7 goals during the tournament.

An exclusive earthling…until then

Before this Florida week which looks like a fairy tale for him, Francisco Cerundolo had not won a single hard match on the circuit. He had even played in all and for all only two matches in the big picture for two defeats therefore: first in the 1st round of the Tokyo Games against the Briton Liam Broady (7-5, 6-7, 6-2) , then entering Adelaide at the very start of the season against the Italian Gianluca Mager (6-3, 3-6, 6-4).

In the Argentine tradition, “Fran” had therefore above all distinguished himself on clay before. The week following his little brother’s feat in Cordoba in 2021, he almost imitated him, failing in the final in Buenos Aires against Diego Schwartzman (6-1, 6-2) after coming out of qualifying (7 wins, 1 defeat). In February, he also stood out by chaining a quarter in Buenos Aires and a half in Rio, each time again stumbling over Schwartzman, decidedly his pet peeve. He has also won 5 titles on the Challenger circuit, the latest to date this year in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Worst ranked semi-finalist in tournament history

To give you an idea of ​​the magnitude of the surprise created in Miami by Francisco Cerundolo, you have to realize that, during the 36 previous editions of the event, the last four had systematically been made up of members of the Top 100. , the Argentinian points this week to 103rd place in the world. He therefore beats the record for the lowest ranked player to reach the last four so far held by a certain… Sébastien Grosjean, 74th, in 1999.

“Fran” also kills two birds with one stone, sensation issue. In Florida, he also became the first player to go so far for his Masters 1000 debut since the Polish Jerzy Janowicz at Paris-Bercy in 2012. The latter had even then pushed the adventure to the final where the Spaniard David Ferrer had finally stopped him. To do at least as well, Cerundolo will have to get rid of Casper Ruud who is also, ironically, a clay court specialist originally. Even if he is a member of the Top 10 and a favorite, the Norwegian has never played in the Masters 1000 final either.

He avenged his brother in Miami

When Gaël Monfils lost heavily to Cerundolo in the 3rd round (6-2, 6-3), the disappointment was quite great, given the Argentinian’s ranking and hard court references as we mentioned earlier. . But the French number 1 is not the only one to have been surprised. Before the abandonment of Jannik Sinner (victim of blisters on the foot) in the quarter, two Americans, and not the least, also fell under the blows of “Fran”: Reilly Opelka, 18th in the world, in the 2nd round and Frances Tiafoe, 31st at ATP, eighth.

The latter was also the executioner of… Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the 3rd round. To overcome Tiafoe (6-7, 7-6, 6-2), Francisco did not deprive himself of the advice of his younger brother. “We have gone through all the stages of his career together, and I hope he achieves the greatest success possible. It makes me happy to have shared this week, even if it’s a shame to have lost the first one and that we couldn’t play against each other“, testified Juan Manuel on the ATP website. Without Tiafoe, there could therefore have been a 100% Cerundolo round of 16.

He continues his studies in parallel

Even if he dreamed of becoming a professional player, Francisco Cerundolo has long made studies his priority. So much so that after finishing high school in Buenos Aires, he spent a semester studying economics at the University of South Carolina in the United States in 2018. In the process, he finally decided to try his luck on the secondary circuits. However, he never lost sight of his academic goals.

For several years, with the agreement of the ATP, he has been following courses and a specialized course in management, economics and finance online at the University of Parliament. And he seems capable of carrying out his career and this activity at the same time: at the end of 2020, he had won the Challenger tournament in Split (Croatia) while passing three exams during the same week. “In Miami, I didn’t really have time to study, but it’s something I want to continue doing. I hope to succeed in graduating from university“, he confided.