Cerundolo has arrived to stay

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We always knew that FFrancisco Cerúndolo was an excellent tennis player. Particularly, if we emphasize his main virtues, a type with fluency, acceleration, and speed when hitting from the baseline of top quality. His inverted forehand was always a missile, but there were aspects that still raised some doubts, from the serve to managing important moments, through an improvable backhand. However, his 2025 is a confirmation in the elite... and his victory over Alexander Zverev to reach the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open 2025 (7-5, 6-3), the sign that he is ready to make a lot of noise at the top.

Because Fran, who will enter the top-20 for the first time in his career next Monday, led the scoreboard advantage as a true veteran. Because Fran, as if he were habitually walking with extreme caution on the edge of a knife, took advantage like never before of the few break points he had. It was a performance of controlled violence, like a Floyd Mayweather who dances, dodges, dances, sets the rhythm, and only strikes when strictly necessary.

And so, prepared for the pace and following Sascha from the baseline, he ended up unsettling him. After a first set with narrow margins, a lot of serves, and more accuracy from the Argentine in the crucial moments, a second set came where the Argentine, surgical and analytical, realized that it was time to wear out a somewhat pusillanimous Zverev. The lack of energy and attitude from the German led him to rush, and Cerúndolo, as he had been doing throughout the match, combined those moments of attrition with changes of pace (he always had the forehand, but it is admirable how smoothly he has incorporated drop shots into his repertoire) to repeatedly overpower the German. Flashes of brilliance that, in the true test of strength, also emerged, closing the victory with a comfort and calmness that doesn't always accompany him.

WHERE IS THE LIMIT?

The Argentine will now collide in the quarterfinals of the tournament against Jakub Mensik, in a match that will pit two players on a steep rise on the tour against each other. The most important thing, it seems, is that in a tournament of many possibilities, someone with such clear ideas, so much fluency in his shots, and few marked weaknesses from the baseline could take advantage of the confusion and, why not, secure his first Masters 1000. Meanwhile, Sascha leaves Madrid without having found an outstanding form, perhaps showing that Munich was a small oasis and his best level is still far from appearing for Roland Garros. Rome will be his next card (and we will see if the last) to regain it.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Cerúndolo ha llegado para quedarse