Cerúndolo turns the US Open upside down by eliminating a strong favorite

A major surprise and a lethal blow to U.S. aspirations of having a local champion. Fran Cerúndolo achieved one of those victories that makes you believe in yourself and in the process he is immersed in alongside Massú, but it also creates a significant hole in favoritism by knocking out Taylor Fritz, a former finalist in this tournament and a strong contender to go far in this part of the draw filled with surprises.

Fritz started the match very well, dominating with an iron fist, tactically interpreting the game wonderfully and driving a inconsistent Cerúndolo to distraction. However, everything changed abruptly at the beginning of the third set. The American suffered the typical loss of adrenaline upon finding himself with two sets lead and allowed the Argentine to re-enter the match, who never let go of his prey.

Cerúndolo came back from two sets down against Fritz at the US Open

Fritz had serious chances in a fifth set where he had two break points at 4-3, but Cerúndolo, who recovered perfectly, is now awaiting Cobolli or Blockx. This could be a great opportunity for the Argentine to explore his limits in a Grand Slam and to achieve that great performance that is always expected of him, but that has yet to arrive in the big tournaments. The final score was 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

Now it’s time to look at the rest of the favorites in this part of the draw, assuming that Zverev has the best chance of reaching the final, but Fran Cerúndolo has earned the right to dream of advancing further in the tournament and positioning himself to be, at the very least, a semifinalist. Names like Cobolli, Mensik, or Khachanov do not impose as much, being the main opponents of the Argentine in this objective. There are reasons to dream at this US Open 2026 of seeing an Argentine in the final stages. Will the eldest of the Cerúndolo brothers be able to build on this great success?

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Cerúndolo pone el US Open patas arriba al eliminar a un gran favorito