Cerúndolo sweeps past Michelsen, marches on at Vienna ATP 500 | OneFootball

The resounding triumph at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) exhibition seems to have restored some confidence to Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo (21st), who had lost momentum in recent months. This Tuesday, he thrashed American Alex Michelsen (34th) 6-3, 6-1 in his debut at the ATP 500 in Vienna.

Although it was expected to be a tough match, the elder of the Cerúndolo brothers dominated from start to finish against the 21-year-old Californian, who had won their only previous encounter a few months ago at the ATP 500 in Halle. Cerúndolo looked truly unstoppable, delivering his best performance in a long time, winning 80% of points on his first serve, hitting 23 winners, committing 14 unforced errors, converting four break points, and saving three break opportunities in 68 minutes of play on the secondary court.

In this way, the protégé of Nicolás Pastor and Pablo Cuevas—one of the standout players at the start of the season after reaching decisive stages in the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid—secured his 36th win of 2025, his 15th on hard courts, matching last season’s tally, and now stands just three wins away from his best performance on the men’s circuit, achieved in 2023.

Looking to reach the quarterfinals of a tournament for the ninth time this year, the former world number 18 will face a tough challenge in Kazakh Alexander Bublik (16th), who defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (75th) in the first round. Cerúndolo beat Bublik in their only previous meeting, at the 2025 Australian Open.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.