Cerundolo snaps Mensik's M1000 win streak, sets Ruud SF in Madrid

Francisco Cerundolo continued his impressive start to the season on Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he notched a Tour-leading 24th win of the year.

The Argentine prevailed 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 against Jakub Mensik, snapping the Miami champion’s nine-match winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 level. Cerundolo crucially saved a break point at 5-5 in the second set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, before riding his momentum through a two-hour and 11-minute comeback to reach his second semi-final at this level.

“I’m tired, I ran a lot today… He was hitting amazing shots, super powerful,” said Cerundolo. “I’m super happy with what I did today, because it was a really difficult match. I was never in control, I was really digging and fighting.”

THREE years in the making 🙌

After Miami 2022, @FranCerundolo is back into a Masters 1000 semi-final@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/GoaBOH7Oqw

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 1, 2025

Cerundolo is now tied with Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur for the most wins in 2025. He is up to No. 18 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, guaranteeing his rise to a new career high on Monday. After improving to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Mensik, Cerundolo has set a last-four clash with Casper Ruud.

2025 ATP Tour Win Leaders

Into his fourth semi-final of the season, Cerundolo improved to 24-9 in 2025, highlighted by a run to the championship match at home in Buenos Aires, where he fell to Joao Fonseca. Mensik was aiming to surpass Tomas Machac for the Czech No. 1 spot, but was unable to reduce his unforced error count, which rose to 47 by the end of the match.