Francisco Cerundolo says he realized that playing well against Jannik Sinner may not reflect much on the score as the world No. 21 claims he felt he was playing very well against the Italian but then won just one game during a set.
In late November, Cerundolo won his opening two Paris Masters matches before Sinner handed him a 7-5 61 defeat. It was the sixth meeting between the two, and the four-time Grand Slam champion leads their head-to-head 4-2. On paper, having two wins against the Italian is a notable thing. However, it should be noted that the Argentine's wins over the current world No. 2 came in 2022 Miami and 2023 Rome.
Speaking with Tennis365, Cerundolo acknowledged that Sinner was more playable a couple of years ago. But now, it is a completely different case.
Cerundolo: I felt I was playing well against Sinner, then I won one game in the second set
"I was playing good, but I lost the first set 7-5 and then it was 6-1. Honestly, I felt like I was playing good and you get one game in the set. He is always there. His serve is amazing, his return is incredible and then with the points at the baseline, he hits the ball really hard and you have no time. I didn’t know what to do in Paris. He has improved a lot. Two years ago, maybe physically he was not so good and if you played long matches and long points, he was missing some balls. Now he is not missing anything," the world No. 21 told Tennis365.
For the first time since 2021, Cerundolo finished a season without collecting a single ATP title. However, it was still a decent season for the Argentine, who finished as runner-up in Buenos Aires and also made the semifinals at the Madrid Masters, Munich and Bastad. The three-time ATP champion also made back-to-back Masters quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami.
Cerundolo will enter 2026 as the 21st-ranked player in the world – a ranking that is three places below his career-high ranking of No. 18 in the world.
