OfMarco Calabresi
The arrest in France for attacking a taxi driver (but he denied it), the family in tennis and that gift from Sinner in Miami: everything about Francisco Cerundolo, Djokovic’s opponent in the round of 16 of Roland Garros
For Francisco Cerundolo tennis is a family matter. His coach is his father (Alejandro, known as Toto), his mother also spent most of her life with a racket in her hand (she is now a sports psychologist), his brother plays like him even if he carries with him, despite himself, the label of “the less good one”. Yet, the first of the two to win an ATP title was Juan Manuel, born in 2001. It happened in Cordoba, in 2021: a week later Francisco didn’t want to be outdone, but stopped in the final in Buenos Aires. Two ATP titles would have arrived anyway, one on the Swedish clay of Bastad, one on the English grass of Eastbourne. Currently, Francisco is number 27 in the world, but a year ago these days – also in June – he pushed himself into the top 20 for the first time.
Cerundolo, the arrest in Paris and then the apology
If at Roland Garros last year he stopped in the round of 16 against Holger Rune, his experience in Paris still made the news, for an alleged assault on a taxi driver, while he was in the company of some friends: stopped by the French police, Cerundolo denied everything and in the end the matter was resolved with a release without complaints and complete with an apology from the police.
Sporty family, sister plays field hockey
Family of sportsmen, it was said. The father is a tennis player, the mother is a tennis player (they run an academy in Buenos Aires), the brother is a tennis player, while the sister Maria Costanza won the gold medal in field hockey with the Argentine team at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. He loves asado (like every Argentine), and studied at the university of Buenos Aires, Cerundolo, but has chosen to continue his “career” in books also through online courses in management at the University of Palermo.
A River Plate fan, his idols are Roger Federer and his compatriot David Nalbandian: two tennis players, even if he dreamed of being a singer. «I sing all the time – he said -. In the shower, in the bedroom, this is my true passion. I don’t have a favorite song for karaoke, but I really like reggaeton. I like rock, pop, it all depends on my mood.”
And then the statistics, another “fixation” of the older of the two Cerundolo brothers: “I love everything about numbers. I love looking at statistics. It’s not that I use them too much in tennis, but I probably discuss statistics I’ve seen with my coach or my parents. Brain Games are also fun for me.” Among many statistics, one fact: he was the last player to face Jannik Sinner at the Foro Italico. And he beat him too, 6-7 6-2 6-2 last year. The same Sinner who had opened the doors to the semi-final in Miami in 2022. The most important result of his career.
June 3, 2024 (modified June 3, 2024 | 6:19 pm)
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