Cerúndolo through in Monte Carlo after edging Tsitsipas in a thriller | OneFootball

Francisco Cerúndolo (19th in the ATP rankings) got his clay-court swing off to a happy start. Argentina’s top-ranked player did not stumble in his debut at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 and defeated the three-time champion of this tournament, Stefanos Tsitsipas (48th), 7-5, 6-4.

After a strong run in the United States, where he reached the quarterfinals in Miami, Cerúndolo arrived in the Principality of Monaco and made his intentions clear from the very beginning. Although he went through several shaky moments in the opening set (he was down 3-5), he put together a run of eight consecutive games, which allowed him to move ahead 7-5 and 4-0.

Of course, that came as a real blow to the Greek, but little by little he began to turn things around, and just when it seemed everything was going the Argentine’s way, the response came. The inconsistency of Nicolás Pastor’s pupil gave the Athens-born player some breathing room, and he managed to level the second set at 4-4. Despite that, the Argentine player was stronger in the key moment of the match, closed it out, and got through another opening match in Monte Carlo, remaining unbeaten at this stage after winning all four of his first-round appearances at the tournament.

Now, the Argentine will face the challenge of reaching the third round of the Monaco tournament for the first time in his career, since in his only three previous appearances so far, he was eliminated in the second round. Matteo Berrettini, Karen Khachanov, and Carlos Alcaraz have been his nemeses so far, and in 2026 he will look to break that barrier against the winner of the clash between Tomas Machac and Daniel Altmaier.

Meanwhile, Stefanos sank even deeper into his slump in a tournament that had always brought him great rewards, including three titles (2012, 2022, and 2024), and where since 2019 he had always reached at least the third round. With this defeat, he will fall to No. 65 in the world rankings and could continue to lose ground as the tournament goes on.

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