These Cerundolos! One is stopped, the other wins
Juan Manuel Cerundolo's winning run came to an end in the first round of the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Buenos Aires. Brother Francisco, on the other hand, got off to a successful start.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Mar 03, 2021, 09:13 am
For a brief moment on Tuesday it looked as if the world domination of the Cerundolo brothers in matters of tennis was only a matter of time: The winning streak of Juan Manuel, 19, which led him from qualifying to winning the tournament in Cordoba, was still intact. And brother Francisco, 22, had beaten Federico Coria at the start of the ATP Tour 250 event in Buenos Aires.
Six matches in the main fields on the ATP Tour 2021, six wins for the Cerundolos. This run was then ended in the Argentine capital in the evening: Federico Delbonis took on Juan Manuel and granted him a much-needed break with a 6: 4 and 7: 6 (2) score. Nevertheless, remarkable things have happened in the past few days. Juan Manuel and Francisco Cerundolo were the first Argentine brothers since 1991 (at that time Carlos and Alejandro Gattiker) who were together in the main draw of an ATP tournament.
Father Cerundolo - "Juan should be in the top 50"
The successes are not entirely by chance: father Alejandero Cerundolo tried himself to be a professional tennis player in the 1980s, and at that time he just came close to the top 300 in the world. Cerundolo senior has a lot of confidence in his younger son: "If we look at it objectively, Juan should be at least in the top 50," said Alejandro Cerundolo to the ATP website. “The only question I always had was how quickly could he achieve this. He was a special kid. Whenever it looked like he was going to fall behind, he did crazy things that amazed everyone. "
Mother Cerundolo, who works as a sports psychologist, is not surprised by Juan Manuel's serenity. “He's always been on the court like that. He's very calm. Sometimes his coaches would like him to be a little more extroverted, to scream a little more. But just because he doesn't do that doesn't mean he's not very strong mentally. Quite the opposite: you don't find mental strength in what you say outwardly. It's inside. And Juan knows how to find her. "
In the week of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel Cerundolo has to be content with the role of cheerleading for brother Francisco after the defeat against Delbonis. He's going to play against Benoit Paire in round two.