Francisco Cerundolo path to the HSBC Championships title
First round – bt. Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2
Second round – bt. Jenson Brooksby (USA) 6-0, 6-4
Quarter-final – bt. Arthur Fery (GBR) 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4
Semi-final – bt. Brandon Nakashima (USA) 7-7(5), 6-3, 6-4
Final – bt. Tommy Paul (USA) (8) 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2
It’s the second time Cerundolo has defeated the American in a grass court final, having previously won the Eastbourne title in 2023.
He’s only the third man to win both the Queen’s and Eastbourne titles, joining Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez.
For Paul, it’s a fourth final of the season so far – only Jannik Sinner has made more (five). Despite the disappointment of losing the final, there were plenty of positives for the American star.
“I want to congratulate Fran and his team,” Paul said. “We have a tonne of respect for you guys, and we always seem to have unreal matches. Today you were the better player, and I’m happy for you.
“It’s always so much fun coming back here, and this year was no different. It’s an unbelievable event, and I’m really happy to come back every year.”
Three key stats
Impressive forehand – Cerundolo had an 8.9 forehand quality rating in the match compared to the tour average 7.4
Deadly in attack – from midway through the second set, Cerundolo was in attack on 27% points compared to Paul’s 18%
Master returning – Cerundolo’s return quality was 8.2 compared to Paul’s 7.2
Historically, this has been a good matchup for the Argentine, and so it proved through the early stages. Cerundolo’s forehand has been his biggest weapon this week, and it reached a shot quality of 9.6/10 at times during the first set.
He had the chance to serve for the set at 5-4, but suffered a break to love, giving Paul a much-needed confidence boost to go on and win the tie-break.
Paul led by a break at 3-2 in the second set and then went up 15-40 on the Argentine’s serve at 4-4, but Cerundolo was resilient and refused to let the match slip away.
Cerundolo capitalised on a poor backhand from the American to break on his first set point, teeing up a blockbuster final set.
The Argentine raced out to a 5-2 lead and had three match points on the American’s serve – Paul needing a lucky net court to ask the question of Cerundolo one last time on serve.
Cerundolo managed to put any nerves to bed and, with his fifth match point, planted a smash out of Paul’s reach before collapsing to the floor in celebration.
It brings an end to another incredible two weeks at the HSBC Championships, with the grass court season now moving on to the Lexus Eastbourne Open.