ATP Tour

Cerundolo one win from banishing Buenos Aires heartbreak

One more win.

That is all that separates Argentine Francisco Cerundolo from his first title on home soil after the top seed defeated countryman and seventh seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the final of the IEB+ Argentina Open.

Twice before Cerundolo had reached the final of the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires and on each occasion he fell just short. Now the 27-year-old will try to take advantage of his third opportunity to lift the trophy Sunday when he takes on second seed Luciano Darderi.

“Just win the last match. I think that’s the only thing I have to do now,” Cerundolo said in his on-court interview. “My first final here [was] against probably peak [Diego] Schwartzman in his best moment of his career, [ninth] in the world. I wasn’t mature enough to play those matches. He killed me.

“Then last year I played an incredible [Joao] Fonseca. I think we played an amazing final, but he was a little bit better than me. So tomorrow I will try to be a little bit better than the opponent.”

Cerundolo is now 15-7 at the Buenos Aires event according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Although he made the final in 2021 and 2025, this is the first occasion in which he made the championship match without losing a set.

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In an all-Argentine battle against Etcheverry, Cerundolo leaned on his big forehand in critical moments and won 39 per cent of his return points to put consistent pressure on Etcheverry, taking a 3-2 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“Super happy. It was really difficult conditions today, super windy. Really tough to play. I think we both tried to play our best. It was difficult. We managed to play good points. I think I served really well, played my service games amazing… I think that was the key. I didn’t let him play with so much confidence in his service games.”

Darderi, who won three titles last season, will play for his first of 2026 on Sunday. The second seed, competing on his 24th birthday, surged past fourth seed Sebastian Baez 7-6(2), 6-1 in one hour and 18 minutes.

“I think the first set was really tough. He played a really good level. But I stayed focused in the tie-break. I think that was the key. I served really well all the match,” Darderi said. “Today is my birthday, so it’s really special here playing in Buenos Aires. All of my family is here, my team, everyone is here, so I’m very happy.”

The No. 21 player in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, the Italian will crack the Top 20 for the first time if he beats Cerundolo.