Making his debut at the Shanghai Masters 1000, Francisco Cerúndolo (No. 21 in the ATP rankings) earned his first win on the Asian tour after his stumble in Beijing. Starting his campaign directly from the second round, he overcame the challenge posed by Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (No. 60) with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) victory in 2 hours and 23 minutes of play.
A few days ago, the 27-year-old Argentine landed on Asian soil ready to resume official competition after his active participation in the Laver Cup in San Francisco, United States.
However, the momentum from the Team Rest of the World‘s triumph was abruptly halted upon his arrival at the ATP 500 in Beijing. There, he lost in his debut to American Learner Tien. Days later, the 19-year-old ended up becoming the tournament’s runner-up, falling in the final to Jannik Sinner (No. 2).
But the unexpected setback was quickly reversed upon his arrival in Shanghai. In his opening match at the penultimate Masters 1000 of 2025, Cerúndolo overcame a tough challenge with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) win to qualify for the third round.
The nineteenth seed now awaits either Norwegian Casper Ruud or Belgian Zizou Bergs, and will try, against either of them, to match his best result in the tournament by reaching the round of 16 for the second time in his career after achieving it in 2023.
