Juan Manuel Cerúndolo reaches Roland Garros last 16, makes Paris history | OneFootball

Juan Manuel Cerúndolo is still writing the best Grand Slam story of his career: two days after beating Jannik Sinner — world No. 1 in the ATP rankings — on Roland Garros’ center court, the Argentine defeated Spain’s Martin Landaluce this Saturday 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7) and 7-6 (10/8), in a tennis marathon lasting nearly six hours: exactly five hours and 58 minutes, a match that remained evenly contested throughout, with neither player giving in until the very end. In doing so, the 24-year-old advanced to the round of 16 in Paris for the first time.

The left-hander’s victory came after the losses by his brother Francisco and Mar del Plata’s Francisco Comesaña, the other Argentines still in contention on the clay at the year’s second Grand Slam. On Friday, the other two players who had reached the third round, Thiago Agustín Tirante and Solana Sierra, were eliminated. That leaves Juan Manuel as the only Argentine in the round of 16, putting the country back on a path it lost last year, when no Argentine player managed to reach the tournament’s fourth round.

Cerúndolo even led 5-3 in the fourth set (up two sets to one), but he could not finish it there because Landaluce stayed solid off the ground and managed to pull through that critical moment. At the decisive stage of the fifth-set super tie-break, Cerúndolo showed composure and variety to turn around the deciding tie-break (the third of the match, no less) and win it 10-8 at his first chance to close out the match. His measured celebration, despite the achievement, recalled the way he celebrated on Thursday, when he beat Jannik Sinner, the world No. 1, who had the match under control but became dizzy in the heat and could not close it out. “I got lucky,” he admitted frankly that day.

Cerúndolo, exhausted and happy in ParisClive Brunskill – Getty Images Europe

Now, his restrained reaction may have had more to do with the effects of the battle: the final set lasted one hour and 14 minutes, pushing the total past six hours. The contenders had no strength left, just as the sun was beginning to set on a splendid day in Paris. But Juanma was smiling with his whole face, while part of his family applauded on their feet, just like the rest of the stadium. The recognition was for both players. “I can’t do any more, I want to go to sleep,” Cerúndolo said after the match, as happy as he was exhausted. “Mentally, my battery died. I want to go to sleep. I can’t do any more. I don’t know what to tell you,” he blurted out, looking the reporter interviewing him on court for the TV broadcast straight in the eyes.

For the younger Cerúndolo, world No. 54, this Roland Garros is, for now, a fairy tale. He had never made it past the second round at a Grand Slam, so he keeps breaking new ground and now dreams of raising his ceiling even higher. With this win, he is guaranteed to climb to No. 44 in the rankings, and that could improve even more if he keeps going. He also secured a check for 285,000 euros for this performance, a figure that could still rise.

It was the third-longest match in the tournament’s history. Still ahead are Fabrice Santoro vs. Arnaud Clément (six hours and 33 minutes) and Álex Corretja vs. Argentina’s Hernán Gumy (six hours and five minutes).

The decisive point

He drew worldwide attention with his unexpected win over a Sinner who had looked like the overwhelming favorite for the title this year on the clay of Paris, and now he showed enormous coolness under pressure against the freshness of Landaluce, who, at 20, is regarded as one of the most promising young players.

Now, the Argentine will face Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, who also beat Comesaña in five sets, in a match only slightly shorter than Cerúndolo’s: they battled for five hours and 16 minutes. The round-of-16 clash will be played on Monday, and both will have these two days to recover from the tremendous effort they put in this Saturday.

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