Juan Manuel Cerundolo became the talk of the town of the tennis world and became an overnight hero after knocking World No. 1 Jannik Sinner out of the 2026 French Open in the second round of the competition in a result that will go down as arguably the greatest upset in the sport’s history. The Argentine star won the match in a five-set thriller with a margin of 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 after a battle that went on for three hours and 36 minutes in the intense heat in Paris at the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Cerundolo was headed for defeat in a result that looked like it was going as per expectation. Sinner was leading the third set 5-1 and serving for the match, but the game turned around as the Argentinian lost just two games from there in the match.
Who Is Juan Manuel Cerundolo?
Cerundolo, 24, hails from Argentina and is currently ranked 56th in the world. He hails from a tennis family, as his father Alejandro, mother Maria Luiz, and brother Francisco also played professionally. His sister Maria Constanza was part of the Argentina junior hockey team, which won the gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics. He has been playing tennis since the age of three at his father’s academy and is a fan of Rafael Nadal.
This is the first time he has reached the third round of a Grand Slam. Previously, he has won a Grand Slam match only once in his career, when he emerged victorious in the first round of the 2023 Wimbledon against Ilya Ivashka. In that fixture also, he came down from two sets down to register victory. However, he lost his second round against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Cerundolo defeated United Kingdom’s Jacob Fearnley (unseeded) in straight sets during the first round. He also reached the second round at the year’s only Clay Court major last year after beating America’s Alex Michelsen in straight sets. That was the Argentina’s first-ever victory at Roland Garros. He lost in the second round to Hamad Medjedovic
His other main draw appearances at Grand Slams (Australian Open 2022 and 2025, Wimbledon 2023) have ended in first round defeats.
His current rank of 56 is a career high, and he has also ensured a massive leap once the next edition comes out after beating the world No. 1. His ranking has been growing steadily after ending 2025 on the 86th spot. He was ranked 139 at the end of the 2024 season.
Overall, he has played 72 matches in his career and has 30 wins and 42 losses. So far, he has earned $2,014,777 (₹19,378,000) in his career as prize money.
Cerundolo has never made it past the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 in his career. Overall, he has won just one singles title so far, which was in home soil by clinching the Córdoba Open trophy in 2021, which is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament. This was the first main draw tournament of his career. He played the tournament as a wildcard and was ranked 336 in the world at the time. He was the first player to win his debut tournament and the first to do so since 2004.
The win over Sinner was his first victory over a top 10 player. This is third victory over a player ranked in the top 10 after beating Kevin Anderson in the 2022 Miami Masters and Diego Schwartzman in Cordoba Open 2023.
Argentina is also playing the men’s doubles in the 2026 Roland Garros alongside compatriot Mariano Navone. They will play their first-round match tomorrow (May 29).
