Francisco Cerundolo will head into this year's Wimbledon in superb confidence after continuing his great 2023 so far with victory at the Eastbourne International.
The ATP 250 which accompanies the WTA 500 which was won earlier today by Madison Keys, the Argentinian saw off Tommy Paul 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
There were fears that the tournament wouldn't be finished ala last year's Australian Open warm-ups with Wimbledon starting on Monday and the weather yesterday playing a logistical nightmare.
He was facing Mackenzie McDonald in that tie and came back after being 2-6, 7-5, 5-2 on the verge of the win before the wet weather intervened.
But wasted little time breezing through the final game to claim his spot in the final and a tie against Paul who moved past Gregoire Barrere 6-4, 6-3 a lot more comfortably.
It was the 24-year-old though who sealed the title with a second career ATP title and the first Argentinian to win one on grass. A list of players not to do it include David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro but Cerundolo has.
He pushed Rafael Nadal to four sets on Centre Court in 2022 at Wimbledon so certainly has grass court prowess in a tournament which is wide open mainly due to Novak Djokovic being the out and out favourite.
He will get some semblance of rest too with Nuno Borges in the first round on Tuesday compared to Daria Kasatkina for example in the WTA Final who now has to play on Monday.
24yo Francisco Cerundolo continues his great season, beats Tommy Paul 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to win the title in Eastbourne. 2nd career title and first Argentine player to win an ATP title on grass since 1995. Nalbandian, Del Potro, Coria, Gaudio couldn't do it. Curious to watch him at…
