Francisco Cerundolo hits one of the heaviest forehands in tennis, a shot built on the clay of Buenos Aires, where his father Alejandro coached and his younger brother Juan Manuel followed him onto the tour. The wider world noticed at Miami in 2022, when, ranked No. 103, he reached the semi-finals on his Masters 1000 debut. A career-high of No. 18 followed in May 2025, and in February 2026 came the title he wanted most: the Argentina Open at home, after losing the Buenos Aires final in both 2021 and 2025.
The 2026 surprise came on grass. At Queen's Club in June he beat Tommy Paul 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 from a set and a break down, the biggest title of his career and the first by an Argentine at the London club. With Eastbourne already won in 2023, he joined Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez as the only men to have won both events, an odd distinction for a Buenos Aires clay-courter, and one he seems happy to keep.
Thirty-three. That is how many places Nikoloz Basilashvili climbed in the new ATP rankings, from No. 128 to No. 95, a 34-year-old who began the week in qualifying and ends it back inside the top 100. Tallon Griekspoor and Jan Lennard Struff both moved into the top 50 on the same indoor swing.
Ranking taleThree. That is how many consecutive matches Tallon Griekspoor won from a set down to take the European Open title. The world number 60 beat Jan Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday in Brussels for his fourth tour title and his first since Mallorca in 2025.
Match tale