Cerundolo on the rise, with elder brother in his sights
King of the court one day, keen for it to swallow you up the next. Few sports can lift you up and send you tumbling down with such juddering emotional force as tennis.
For Argentine teenager Juan Manuel Cerundolo, any optimism for the 2021 season might have evaporated instantaneously when he began the year with a first round defeat on the ITF World Tennis Tour at M15 Antalya – the lowest rung of men’s professional tennis.
A week later, at the same venue, Cerundolo reached the final, and six months on, the 19-year-old, with ball in hand, held match points for a place in the main draw of a Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
The fairytale wasn’t to be this time; he fell by the narrowest of margins to Henri Laaksonen. On the plus side, there was a first-time Grand Slam appearance for another member of the Cerundolo family.
Juan Manuel’s older brother, Francisco, ranked 30 spots above him at No. 117 in the world, had suffered a similar fate in the final round of qualifying, losing to Alessandro Gianessi. But the tennis gods, quirky as they are, handed him a second chance – a lucky loser entry into the main draw for his Grand Slam debut.
“I was very happy for him,” said Juan Manuel, without a hint of envy. “He won lots of tournaments last year. This year he made a Challenger final, a final of an ATP [tournament], and he still had to play qualifiers. I think he deserved it more than any other player that qualified.”
The Cerundolo brothers hail from a sporty family. Their father, Alejandro, played professionally in the 80s, and their sister, Maria Constanza, excels in field hockey, winning gold at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
“All our family understands what an athlete has to do and what a sacrifice we have to make,” Cerundolo said. “I think that’s really healthy. When someone loses, we understand what it is to lose a match, and also what it is to win.”
There have been plenty more wins to celebrate this year for both brothers, but Juan Manuel’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric.
He began 2021 ranked No. 341 in the world, struggling for consistency on the ITF World Tennis Tour, but all that changed in February when he turned up for qualifying at an ATP tournament in Cordoba. Unexpectedly for all – most of all himself – he won eight straight matches and clinched his first ATP title.
“It was incredible,” reflected Cerundolo, who became the first Argentine to win a title on his Tour debut, and the youngest champion from his nation since Guillermo Coria in 2001.
“That was really amazing. I couldn’t believe it when they told me that. It’s so motivating and inspired me to keep working. He was a great player – a legend in Argentina – so it was incredible for me. My tennis has grown a lot since then. I feel a lot more confident.”
Ironically, while Juan Manuel was busy winning in Cordoba and matching the achievement of the 2004 French Open finalist, elder brother Francisco fell in the second round at the same event – to the younger brother of the former world No. 9, Federico Coria.
Francisco bounced straight back from that defeat and almost matched the success of Juan Manuel at his very next tournament, reaching the final at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires. Those performances beg the question: is travelling the tour with your brother as beneficial as it appears?
“It’s amazing,” Juan Manuel admits. “We train a lot together. We push each other. We motivate each other. We support each other and we learn things from each other. We share a lot and we have some very funny moments too. It’s nice to share the tour and travel with him. It makes it easier.
“We have our own calendar, but our rankings are similar so we play a lot of tournaments in common. We have different coaches, but we’re at the same hotel and we train together. He used to beat me before Cordoba,” he added with a chuckle, “but maybe now it’s a little bit closer...”
Both beneficiaries of the Grand Slam Development Fund, the Cerundolo brothers were identified as having exceptional potential and awarded $25,000 Grand Slam Player Grants to help further their professional careers in 2020.
Juan Manuel admits that the funding has played a significant part in both his recent rise and successes this year.
“It was so important,” he admitted. “Thank you very much to the GSDF. If it wasn’t for that grant, I couldn’t travel last year. I was in Europe for three months with my coach playing tournaments, and that would have been too expensive – especially coming from Argentina.
“Winning the ATP in Cordoba wasn’t expected, but if it wasn’t for the grant I wouldn’t have improved my level to where I am now. I wouldn’t have travelled with my coach, and it’s because of my coach that I’m at the level I am now.”
You suspect that isn’t the only reason, but it’s clear that Juan Manuel, and brother, Francisco, are on an upward trajectory, with few signs of slowing down.