Tennis | Francisco Cerúndolo rose from small competitions with a rocket-like rise to the top of the world: “It wasn’t easy”

Argentina Davis Cup team number one player Francisco Cerundolo know what it feels like to rapidly rise to the top of the tennis world.

Just a year ago, Cerúndolo, 24, was playing at the challenger level until his career got a turbo boost in March.

“It was a wonderful breakthrough year. I felt like I played great tennis all year. I beat top-10 players and it was incredible.”

“The year gave me a lot of confidence and I broke into the top 30. Amazing season, and hopefully I can maintain the same level – and improve.”

Cerúndolo chats on the renovated field of the Metro-arena while preparing for this weekend’s Davis Cup, where Finland and Argentina are aiming for a place in the World Cup final tournament, which is also called the world group.

“This will be a super tight match. Both have tough players, but hopefully we will play to win.”

“We have a good relationship with Emil. I got to know him better last year on tour and in the Bundesliga we’ve played in a few of the same matches,” says Cerúndolo Emil from Ruusuvuoriwho plays Finland’s number one.

“Harry’s [Heliövaara] I know too, but I don’t know anything about other Finns. I played against Harri in singles last year, but he is a doubles specialist.”

Cerúndolo qualified for two Davis Cups last year, against Italy and Croatia.

It is no wonder that Cerúndolo has not been able to represent his country, when Argentina is counted as one of the great tennis countries in the world. The challenger level Cerúndolo was playing at before last year has nothing to do with such a tough team.

Let’s go back to last year, when Cerúndolo broke into the forefront of top tennis.

Cerúndolo says he tried for a long time to get into the top 100, even the top 50 chess. Finally, when the wish came true, everything worked out with great speed.

“In the end, I was among the 30. I don’t know if it was too much for me, but I’m happy it happened. It gave me the confidence to continue and develop further.”

All actually started in February at the ATP 250 race in his hometown Buenos Aires. Cerúndolo secured a place in the main series through the qualifiers and advanced to the quarterfinals. The continuation followed quickly. The following week, he knocked himself into the semi-finals at the twice-bigger tournament in Rio de Janeiro.

Only a few weeks passed between these two races, when Cerúndolo reached the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. The prize money came to almost 350,000 euros, 360 ATP points and Rankkaus jumped from 104th place to 47th place.

The summer grass court season was not a treat for Cerúndolo, who is used to playing in the crowd. The rhythm returned immediately after Wimbledon in Båstad. He won the tournament and defeated, among others Casper Ruudinthe Norwegian superstar.

The tournament win was wonderful, but not easy to handle. Cerúndolo’s name was added to the same list of Båstad winners where they were already Rafael Nadal, Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg and many other magnitudes.

“It wasn’t easy. When you win a tournament and succeed in others, you get used to winning, and then suddenly you start losing. After that comes the feeling that you are playing rough tennis. I started working a lot on the mental side after that.”

The pressures started to pile up as he was expected to win every tournament. Cerúndolo is thankful that he has a good team around him that helps, encourages and advises in every situation.

The strong-built Cerúndolo is about a year older than Emil Ruusuvuor, but has played more than half as many matches on the ATP tour as Finland’s number one.

In a way, Cerúndolo is a model example of a player who grows and develops to the top in a slightly slower way. He played football, rugby and other sports before specializing in tennis when he was less than ten years old.

The choice of sport was easy, as Cerúndolo’s father once played professionally and runs a tennis academy in Buenos Aires.

“Still, as a junior, I never made it into the top ten or 15 in Argentina. I also didn’t represent my country in any junior tournaments.”

Mass court players come from Argentina, and Cerúndolo belongs to that category, even though his biggest breakthrough tournament in Miami was success on hard surfaces.

“Last fall, I played on hard indoor courts for about two months for the first time in my life. I had never played indoors before.”

Cerúndolo’s tennis family also has another professional, Juan Manuel, who was born in 2001. His last season was messed up by injuries, but he still has an ATP ranking of 119.

“We have a healthy competition between us”, Francisco Cerúndolo smiles.