Francisco Cerundolo back in Miami quarterfinals with Pablo Cuevas in his corner

MIAMI, USA — Some things just go well together, like bread and butter or Argentines and mate—or like Francisco Cerundolo and the Miami Open.

The No. 23 seed booked his ticket to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 upset over fifth-seeded Casper Ruud on a rain-affected Tuesday afternoon, marking his third time in four years reaching this stage of the South Florida tournament.

The victory improved Cerundolo’s impressive Miami record to 12-3, his happiest hunting ground at any ATP Masters 1000 event by far. To put that figure into perspective: Cerundolo has recorded 33 Masters 1000 main draw wins in his career, and exactly a third have come at the Hard Rock Stadium.

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“I don’t know if the conditions here suit me, but I really like this city,” Cerundolo said afterward. “I really like the crowd of people that support me. I enjoy a lot the time I spend outside of the tournament, too, (off) the court.

“I think that probably helps me a lot (being) here, to play freely, play calm, play happy on the court.”

The 26-year-old made his ATP debut back in 2019, and it would take him three years before he scored his first win on hard courts—and of course, it happened right here in Miami. Playing in a 1000-level main draw for the first time, Cerundolo made waves as he toppled names like No. 16 seed Reilly Opelka, No. 22 Gael Monfils, No. 28 Frances Tiafoe and No. 9 Jannik Sinner (via retirement, due to foot blisters) to reach the semifinal.

Read More: With hard court game clicking, Francisco Cerundolo’s Cinderella story continues in Miami (2022)

He was ousted by Ruud, then the No. 6 seed, in that 2022 semifinal—which made his lopsided victory on Tuesday that much sweeter.

Cerundolo edged through a tight opening set against Ruud on Grandstand, and had just opened up a 5-1 lead in the second when the rain started to fall, causing a three-hour rain delay. He said he “just chilled” with his team and family as they passed the time, and upon resumption he closed out the victory in style—without facing a break point in the entire match.

“I definitely feel like I’m playing my best tennis right now,” Cerundolo said. “I’ve been winning a lot of matches back to back and showing a good level—that’s the most important thing.

“I’ve played great matches here in the past, but I feel like I’m a better player and a lot more mature. I feel like I understand tennis better now, and I can take it match by match.”

Since skyrocketing up the ATP rankings after his breakthrough on these courts three years ago, Cerundolo has established himself as a multi-surface threat. The Argentine owns three ATP titles—two on clay (Bastad 2022, Umag 2024) and one on grass (Eastbourne 2023)—and owns 14 wins over Top 10 players, with six of those wins taking place on hard courts.

Two weeks ago in Indian Wells, Cerundolo toppled No. 10 Alex de Minaur to reach the quarterfinals there, too—making him the first player from Argentina to reach the last eight at both Sunshine Swing events since Juan Martin del Potro won Indian Wells in 2018 and reached the semifinals in Miami the same year.

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Already his country and the continent’s top-ranked player on tour, Cerundolo recently joined forces with another South American legend in Pablo Cuevas as he seeks to keep up his steady improvement.

The Uruguayan player, who retired from professional tennis last year, won the 2008 Roland Garros title in doubles (with Luis Horna) and was well-known on tour for his endless arsenal of trickshots. Cuevas joined the team ahead of the Golden Swing, and Cerundolo immediately reached his first final of the year in their first event together—falling to rising star Joao Fonseca on home soil in Buenos Aires.

Cerundolo confirmed that Cuevas will be with the team through at least the European clay court season, working in tandem with primary coach Nicolas Pastor as they hone his game.

“It’s so nice to have the eyes of a former player like him on my game,” Cerundolo told journalists in Spanish. “He was such a great player, who for years competed at all the big tournaments and played against the top players.

“He brings me a new way to look at tennis, a new point of view about the way I’m playing and the opponents I’m facing. It’s been really great so far. We’ve had a few weeks of training and a few weeks of competition, so I just want to keep on learning from him.”

Up next, Cerundolo will face last year’s Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, after the Bulgarian took down No. 31 Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-5. The 26-year-old lost their only previous meeting at Queen’s Club in 2023—but lucky for him, new coach Cuevas owns two wins over Dimitrov, with the most recent coming in 2021 in Geneva.