The Buenos Aires player took advantage of the physical discomfort of the opponent and came back in a match that was one game away from ending in defeat.
After the victory of Solana Sierra against Jasmine Paolini, Roland Garros witnessed one of the biggest Argentine surprises in recent times. This Thursday, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo staged a historic comeback and eliminated the world number one, Jannik Sinner, after winning in five sets by 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, and 6-1 to advance for the first time in his career to the third round of a Grand Slam.
Sinner was clearly dominating the match and was 6-3, 6-2, and 5-1 up in the third set, just one game away from sealing the round. Everything seemed to indicate that the player from Buenos Aires was going to lose quickly, however, the Italian began to suffer from the heat (over 30°) and showed obvious signs of physical exhaustion and never managed to recover.
Sinner showed signs of exhaustion and was suffering from the heat of Paris.
Visibly affected by discomfort and cramps, the ATP ranking leader lost mobility, constantly sought air, and even needed medical attention when the match began to slip away from him. From there, Cerúndolo took absolute control of the match and capitalized on his opponent's confusion. The Argentine won six consecutive games to take the third set and then dominated the final two sets with authority against a Sinner who was completely physically diminished.
Despite achieving the most important victory of his career, the tennis player from San Isidro showed great humility when analyzing the match and focused on the difficult moment the Italian was going through. "It's hard for him. I couldn't win more than three games per set, so I had a bit of luck. He deserved to win this match and then I don't know what happened to him. But I feel for him and hope he recovers", he expressed right after the match.
Cerúndolo felt that Sinner should have won the match.
The victory takes on even greater significance due to the context. Sinner came in as the top favorite for the title, had a streak of 30 consecutive victories, and was chasing the only Grand Slam that is still not in his resume. For his part, Cerúndolo achieved his first victory against a Top 10 and became one of the few Argentines to defeat the world number one in a Grand Slam tournament.
Among the names on this prestigious list are figures like Guillermo Vilas, José Luis Clerc, David Nalbandian, and Juan Martín Del Potro, who holds the Argentine record for most wins and was the last to do so (vs. Rafael Nadal at the US Open 2018).
With this qualification, the best of the Cerúndolo family advanced to the third round, where he will face the winner of the match between the Spaniard Martín Landaluce (69th) and the Czech Vít Kopřiva (66th).
