“Winning here is special … I wanted to win here,” admitted Cerundolo in his postgame press conference after taking down Luciano Darderi (6-4, 6-2) on Sunday, with Bolavip in attendance.

The trophy in his native Buenos Aires had been quite elusive for the 27-year-old, who lost to fellow countryman Diego Schwartzman in the 2021 final before being upset by Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca in the title game last year.

Cerundolo wants to build on Buenos Aires triumph to succeed in Brazil

This time, Cerundolo redeemed himself in a memorable week where he won all his games in straight sets. But as happy as he feels about this unforgettable triumph in front of his family and friends, Cerundolo is already setting his sights in his next challenge on the ATP tour: the 2026 Rio Open.

“This sport is tough, tomorrow I’m taking a plane to Rio and I already have to change the mindset,” Cerundolo said. “I will try to give my best in Rio, I know there’s 500 points at stake, it’s a lot of points and I would also like to continue winning.”

Fresh off his 2026 Argentina Open victory—the fourth ATP title in his career—Cerundolo will be back on the tennis court soon. On Tuesday, he’s playing fellow Argentine Mariano Navone in the 2026 Rio Open round of 32.

Cerundolo’s goals for 2026 involving Grand Slams and top opponents

Speaking to reporters after the Buenos Aires final, with Bolavip in the press room after following him throughout the tournament, Cerundolo also referred to his Grand Slam goals for 2026.

“I don’t set a fixed goal for myself, I just want to perform better in those tournaments because it’s what I lacked last year,” he explained, days after mentioning that one of his goals for 2026 is to improve his performance at the Majors.

“I think I had a great tournament at the Australian Open, reaching the round of 16 and losing to a player who was better than me and almost beat (Carlos) Alcaraz in the semis,” Cerundolo said in reference to German star Alexander Zverev.

“My goal is to play my best tennis every week and face the world’s best players. If one wants to improve and climb in the ranking, you have to face the best in those stages and aspire to beat them.”

A promising start to 2026 for Cerundolo

It is a promising moment in Cerundolo’s career. At 27, he’s finally establishing himself as the best tennis player in Argentina, winning the only tournament played in the country while being the nation’s best-ranked player.

2026 is all about improvement for Cerundolo. He’s already won a tournament he’d been chasing for years now, and finds himself only one spot behind his career-best ranking (No. 18 on May 5, 2025).

When the time comes, Cerundolo will hope to get past the fourth round at the Roland Garros, having reached that round of the French Open twice already (2023, 2024). But first, the reigning Argentina Open champion will be looking to build on his recent triumph to make another deep run in Brazil.

Before finding out that Luciano Darderi would be his opponent on Sunday, Cerundolo addressed the media after his semifinal win over fellow Argentine Tomas Etcheverry (6-3, 7-5).

With Bolavip in attendance, Cerundolo was asked to build his ideal player choosing different active players at the ATP, including himself. He started by naming Jakub Mensik or Hubert Hurkacz for the serve.

Required to include himself, Cerundolo selected his forehand as his biggest strength. For the backhand, he went with Jannik Sinner. In mobility, Cerundolo opted for Alex de Minaur, while naming Carlos Alcaraz for overall play and Novak Djokovic for the return of serves.

Cerundolo chasing first Argentina Open title in year of big Grand Slam hopes

Earlier in the tournament, Cerundolo revealed his ambitious Grand Slam goals for this year after a tough 2025 where he failed to get past the third round at the Majors. He got off to a better start in 2026, reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open—tied with the 2023 and 2024 French Opens as his best Grand Slam results.

But first he has to take care of business in Buenos Aires, where he’s looking to win a title that has been elusive so far. It’s a tournament where Carlos Alcaraz emerged victorious in 2023, and a victory would certainly boost Cerundolo’s Grand Slam aspirations in 2026.

The first upcoming Major on the schedule is Roland Garros, and a successful ending in Argentina could give Cerundolo hope ahead of the biggest tournament played on clay.

The Argentine player, currently No. 19 in the ATP world ranking, made it to the semifinals in Buenos Aires after defeating Czech player Vit Kopriva on Friday (6-4, 6-3). Now, he’s set to face fellow countryman Tomas Etcheverry, who took down the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo earlier in the same court (1-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Cerundolo is now just one win away from making it to the Argentina Open final for the second straight year, having lost to Joao Fonseca in the 2025 decider. It was the second time he fell short in the final, having already lost to fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman in 2021.

Cerundolo targets Grand Slam improvement in 2026

And while he’s excited about the shot at redemption in his land, Cerundolo has already set bigger goals for this year. After struggling to get results in the 2025 Grand Slams, he hopes to make deeper runs in the 2026 Majors.

“I had a great year in 2025 but I feel like I failed in the Grand Slams, so I wanted to focus on that this year. I’m currently at No. 19, to keep progressing in the ranking I must perform well in the big tournaments where you get more points,” Cerundolo said at his postgame press conference, with Bolavip in attendance.

“So one of my goals this year is to get as many points as possible in the Majors so that then the 250 or 500 tournaments also help. Since I feel like I failed in that regard last year, one of the goals I set for myself this year is to have better performances in the Grand Slams.”

Cerundolo’s performance at the Majors

Cerundolo’s best result in a Grand Slam last year came at the Australian Open, where he reached the third round. That performance was followed with consecutive first-round exits at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively, before a second-round elimination at the US Open.

The Argentine player, who boasts three ATP 250 titles at 27, recently matched his best Grand Slam result, having reached the fourth round of the 2026 Australian Open—a stage he reached twice at the French Open (2023, 2024).

Now just one spot shy of his career-high at the ATP world ranking (No. 18 on May 5, 2025), Cerundolo is looking to build on a promising performance at the Majors to take a step further in his career.

Francisco Cerundolo reached the semifinals of the ATP 250 event in Bastad, Sweden, on Friday after picking up wins over Mariano Navone and Damir Dzumhur. With those results, the Argentine improved his 2025 clay record to 21–9.

That puts Cerundolo second in the world for clay-court win totals this season, trailing only Carlos Alcaraz. The World No. 2 leads the ATP Tour in clay wins with an outstanding 22–1 record—one of the key reasons he remains near the top of the rankings.

The 22-year-old Spanish star has won five titles this season, three of them on clay: Monte-Carlo, Rome, and Roland Garros. His other titles came in Rotterdam (hard court) and Queen’s Club (grass). Alcaraz’s only loss on clay this year came in the Barcelona Open final, where he fell to Holger Rune. He missed the Madrid Open due to injury.

Cerundolo’s campaign has been more modest. He has yet to win a title in 2025, though he made a strong run to the final of the Argentina Open—on clay—where he lost to Joao Fonseca. He also had solid results in the BMW Open in Munich and at the Madrid Masters 1000, where he reached the semifinals.

Who are the top clay-court players this season?

While Carlos Alcaraz leads the ATP Tour in clay wins with a 22–1 record in 2025, Francisco Cerundolo is solidly in second with his 21–9 mark. Behind them is Lorenzo Musetti, who holds a 19–4 record and made a deep run to the final in Monte-Carlo. Further down is Alexander Zverev, who captured the title in Munich and holds an 18–7 record on the surface.

Cerundolo chasing first title of the year

Cerundolo previously won the Bastad title in 2022 and enters this weekend as the top seed and favorite. “I try to take it in a positive way,” he said, according to the ATP Tour’s official website. “If I’m the top seed here it’s because I’ve done pretty well during the year, so I take it as a compliment, not a pressure.”

After defeating Damir Dzumhur, the Argentine will face Luciano Darderi in Saturday’s semifinal. If he advances, he’ll play his second final of the season on Sunday, against the winner of Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs. Jesper De Jong.

“I hate playing him, to be honest,” Zverev said about Francisco Cerundolo during a press conference this week in Italy, ahead of the start of the Rome Masters 1000, where Sasha is set to debut Friday against Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the round of 64.

Zverev then compared Cerundolo to the world’s top players, like Sinner and Alcaraz. “I think outside of the top guys, like Jannik and Carlos, he’s probably the most difficult for me to play,” he said.

Those comments tie into Zverev’s most recent experience on the ATP Tour. At the Madrid Open, the World No. 2 was eliminated in the round of 16 by the Argentine player, who defeated him 7-5, 6-3—another frustrating result in a season that has yet to fully come together for Zverev.

Despite the loss, the German star remained optimistic about his performances in Madrid. “All in all I thought my level of tennis was okay,” he said. “I thought I played three pretty good matches there. Also winning Munich the week before… I feel like my tennis is at the right spot right now.”

How has Zverev fared against Cerundolo?

The defeat at the 2025 Madrid Open wasn’t the only time Alexander Zverev has struggled against Francisco Cerundolo. In fact, the head-to-head record shows a clear advantage for the Argentine, who has beaten Zverev in all three of their meetings.

The most recent came in Madrid, of course, but they had already faced off earlier this year in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, where Francisco prevailed on home soil 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. In 2024, Zverev also lost to Cerundolo in the round of 16 at the Madrid Masters 1000.

Who is Francisco Cerundolo?

As Zverev pointed out, Cerundolo is not currently among the sport’s global superstars like Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, but he still holds a noteworthy position. Right now, the 26-year-old is ranked No. 18 in the ATP rankings, having climbed three spots in the past week.

In 2025, Francisco has delivered several standout performances. While he hasn’t claimed a title this season (he owns three career titles), he has made deep runs at key tournaments: he was a finalist at the Argentina Open and reached the semifinals in Santiago, Munich, and Madrid.

[Watch Holger Rune vs Francisco Cerundolo online free in the US on Fubo]

It is one of the most interesting games that this fourth round of the 2023 French Open will have. On one hand there will be one of the main favorites to win this tournament, especially taking into account his great participation in the Italian Open, the current number 6 in the world ranking, Holger Rune.

The Danish player has been reaffirming his favoritism in this tournament with good victories, although until now he has not faced a rival as tough as the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who will seek to surprise him in what will be the first confrontation between the two players.

When will Holger Rune vs Francisco Cerundolo be played?

The match for the 2023 French Open fourth round between Holger Rune and Francisco Cerundolo will take place this Monday, June 5 at 6:15 AM (ET).

Holger Rune vs Francisco Cerundolo: Time by State in the US

ET: 6:15 AM
CT: 5:15 AM
MT: 4:15 AM
PT: 3:15 AM

How to watch Holger Rune vs Francisco Cerundolo

This match for the 2023 French Open fourth round between Holger Rune and Francisco Cerundolo can be watched in the United States on Fubo (free trial). Other options: Tennis Channel.