ATP Tour

Cerundolo on his magic Miami breakthrough: 'I felt like I was in a movie'

In ATPTour.com’s series, Sliding Tour Moment, a host of top players reflect on a career defining experience, one that they look back on as pivotal in their journey through tennis. This week, Francisco Cerundolo reflects on his run to the semi-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau in 2022, when he competed in the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. Read all instalments of Sliding Tour Moment here.

A breakthrough does not always begin with big expectations. Sometimes, it starts with a single win, followed by another, until a player finds himself somewhere he had never imagined reaching.

For Francisco Cerundolo, that happened at the 2022 Miami Open presented by Itau. Ranked World No. 103, he competed in his first main draw at an ATP Masters 1000 event without expecting to go far. By the end of the fortnight, the Argentine notched wins against Reilly Opelka, Gael Monfils, Frances Tiafoe and Jannik Sinner to reach the semi-finals.

Looking back, it was the entire week, rather than any single victory, that stayed with him.

"I think it's not one match, it's a tournament. It's Miami in 2022," Cerundolo told ATPTour.com when asked about a career-defining moment. "I reached the semi-finals. I think I was ranked around 100 in the world, and I beat guys like Monfils, Opelka, and Sinner, who were all in or close to the Top 20. I wasn't used to playing at that level.

"When I started winning those matches and arrived in the semi-finals, having played against Monfils, I remember entering centre court; I was super tight and thinking, ‘A lot of people are going to watch me on TV’."

Just a month earlier, the Argentine had reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires and the semi-finals at the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro — both on clay. In Miami, he was adapting to hard courts while facing players he had long admired from afar. A place in the last four had been far from his expectations.

"It was definitely one match at a time because I didn't expect to be in the semi-finals," Cerundolo admitted. "I didn't even expect to win one match… Here it was hard court, totally different. I was playing guys I'd watched on TV for years, competing on the biggest stages.

"When I won the first match, then the second, then the third, I felt like I was in a movie, just playing freely. I had no pressure at all. I was enjoying it. Miami was full of Argentine and Latin people, so the atmosphere was great. I was trying to enjoy it as much as possible because it was my first Masters 1000 main draw."

^{_{Cerundolo in Miami in 2022. Photo: Michael Reeves/Getty Images}}

The run became even more meaningful with Francisco’s younger brother, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, enjoying a run of his own in Miami. He, too, won his first two matches before falling to Tiafoe. For the brothers, making progress through the same draw turned Francisco’s breakthrough week into something they could share.

"He made the third round that tournament," Cerundolo recalled. "I think my family wasn't there in Miami. They were back home, I am almost sure. I went with a friend besides my team. I remember when I won the first round, he won the first round. Then we both won our second-round matches. There was a statistic that we were only the third or fourth pair of brothers to reach the third round of the same Masters 1000. We were really happy. It was something special for both of us."

As the older brother continued his run, the support extended beyond his family for him. Cerundolo felt encouragement from some of Argentina’s most celebrated tennis figures, including former World No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro and former WTA star Gabriela Sabatini. 

"I think Delpo texted me," Cerundolo shared. "Gabriela Sabatini was also supporting me a lot. Also, Pico Juan Monaco, Agustin Calleri, Federico Coria, all the great players who were on Tour in past years.

While Argentine greats were reaching out to congratulate him, Cerundolo was also building connections with his fellow ATP Tour stars. Monfils, Tiafoe and Sinner soon became familiar faces, curious about the player who had suddenly made his presence felt in Miami.

"After that, I started a great relationship with Monfils, Tiafoe, and Sinner. I started practising a lot with them at the following tournaments," Cerundolo shared. "Of course, when you're new on Tour, no one knows you... Afterward they would tell me, ‘We're the same age, and you didn't play juniors. Where were you? What were you doing? When did you start playing this well?’. Then I would tell them my story."

Cerundolo's Miami fairytale eventually ended against Casper Ruud in the semi-finals, but by then he had something more lasting than a place in the final four. Later that year, the Argentine won his first ATP Tour title in Bastad and continued his rise. Cerundolo has since won four more titles and reached a career-high No. 18 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

"After that [week], my mindset changed a lot," Cerundolo shared. "My tennis career changed completely because I appeared in the rankings around No. 40 in the world and started playing every big event. That tournament was the week I started believing in myself and that I could do well on the ATP Tour."