Juan Manuel Cerúndolo became the first Argentine tennis player to eliminate a sitting World No. 1 since 2018, after he beat Italy’s Jannik Sinner 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the French Open.
The Argentine struggled a lot early in the match, with Sinner firmly in control of the match. However, the Italian started to struggle physically when he was 5-2 up in the third.
Cerúndolo quickly recovered, getting back to 4-5. With Sinner serving for the game at 0-40, he called upon the umpire and requested to leave the court to receive attention from the physio, saying he felt “dizzy” and “wanted to vomit” and was allowed to do so.
It was to no avail, as Cerúndolo wrapped up the third by 7-5.
The story was more of the same in the fourth and fifth sets, with the Argentine player’s controlled and mistake-free game pushing a visibly struggling Sinner.
The Italian had a tough time enduring the long, hard-fought points and lacked his usual explosiveness from the baseline.
With the match on the line in the fifth, Cerundolo showed incredible poise, taking winners and drop shots to deny Sinner a way back into the game.
Historic
The last time an Argentine player beat a sitting World No.1 at a Grand Slam was nearly ten years ago, when Juan Martín del Potro took out Spain’s Rafael Nadal at the 2018 US Open. At the time, Nadal retired from the match when the score was 7-6, 6-2 in Del Potro’s favor, due to knee injuries.
“I was really lucky,” Cerúndolo told tournament interviewer and former French tennis star Fabrice Santoro. “He deserved to win. I’m not really sure what happened. I hope he recovers soon,” he said referring to Sinner.
The younger of the Cerúndolo brothers said he’s “super happy” and “trying to play his best” at the French Open.
“It’s a tournament I love, because clay is my favorite surface, so I’ll prepare for the next match.”
Asked about brother Francisco, who was facing Frenchman Hugo Gaston at the same time, he said he was “sorry for all the French fans” but hoped his brother took the win.
Cerúndolo will now face the winner of the duel between Spain’s Martín Landaluce and Czech Vít Kopriva on Saturday.
