Francisco Cerúndolo shines on Queen’s grass, ends historic losing streak

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·16 June 2026

Francisco Cerúndolo shines on Queen’s grass, ends historic losing streak

The start of the grass-court swing brought fresh air for Francisco Cerúndolo. In his debut at the Queen’s ATP 500, the Argentine tennis player (the tournament’s 7th seed and current world No. 27) earned a hard-fought three-set victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic (No. 68), who entered the main draw as a lucky loser following Belgian Alexander Blockx’s injury withdrawal.

The 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win, after nearly two hours of play, was no ordinary match for the Buenos Aires native: it meant ending a brutal 1,077-day drought without an official win on this surface. His last grass-court joy dated back to July 5, 2023, when he beat Nuno Borges in the first round of Wimbledon, weeks after being crowned champion in Eastbourne. Since then, he had suffered five straight losses on the green courts.

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A debut under the eye of a new leader

This match also marked the formal beginning of a new chapter for “Fran” and his team, which now has Chilean Nicolás Massú as the head coach on the bench. The former top-10 player closely followed every point from the Argentine, writing down notes in a match that demanded great mental strength to avoid falling apart after losing the second set.

The match, point by point

First set (6-4): It began with extreme parity. Kovacevic looked very aggressive, but Cerúndolo stayed solid on serve. The decisive break didn’t come until the tenth game (5-4), allowing the Argentine to close out the opening set.
Second set (6-7): The balance continued, and the American even served for the set at 6-5. Cerúndolo reacted in time to force a tie-break, but Kovacevic claimed it 7-5.
Third set (6-2): Far from collapsing mentally after the blow, Cerúndolo played his best tennis in the deciding set. He broke right away to go up 2-0 and broke his opponent’s serve again in the seventh game (5-2), sealing the match with authority.

The ideal scenario to climb the rankings

As Argentina’s top player at the moment and with no points to defend in this stretch of the season (after last year’s early exits), every win on this swing will directly boost him in the ATP rankings. In the round of 16, Cerúndolo will continue his run against another American: Jenson Brooksby (No. 73), who is coming off a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over his compatriot Martin Damm.

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