ATP Tour

Cerundolo backs Sinner stunner with 6-hour win

Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s remarkable Roland Garros run continued on Saturday in Paris, but only after the Argentine battled for nearly six hours to overcome #NextGenATP Spaniard Martin Landaluce.

The No. 56 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Cerundolo backed up his shock second-round triumph against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner with a lung-busting 6-4, 6-7(9), 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-6(10-8) victory against Landaluce. Cerundolo won the final four points to rally from 6/8 in the deciding-set Match Tie-break and claim a five-hour, 58-minute win.

Cerundolo finished the Court-7 epic having won 214 points overall to Landaluce’s 213, according to Infosys Stats, a statistic that reflects the narrow margins involved in the third-round encounter. It is the third-longest Roland Garros match since records began in 1996, while it is the longest since fifth-set Match Tie-breaks were introduced in 2022.

Longest Matches At Roland Garros On Record (since 1996):

Having rallied from two sets down to stun the physically ailing Sinner in the second round, Cerundolo’s marathon effort against the 20-year-old Landaluce has earned him a fourth-round tussle with Matteo Berrettini. The former Top-10 star Berrettini earlier won a five-set marathon of his own, overcoming Francisco Comesana 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(15-13).

Regardless of what happens in his fourth-round meeting with Berrettini, Cerundolo has ensured he will break the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time with his Roland Garros run: The 24-year-old is currently up 12 spots to No. 44 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.