Cerundolo Reaches Milestone Queen’s Final, To Face Paul

Argentina’s top-ranked man achieved a breakthrough on London’s grass courts on Saturday. 

Francisco Cerundolo reached his biggest career final to become the first man from his country to reach the final at Queen’s Club since 2012, and the second in history. 

The World No.27 topped American Brandon Nakashima, 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4, in a back-and-forth tussle that wasn’t decided until Cerundolo broke in the penultimate game of the final set. 

He will face 2024 champion Tommy Paul in the final.

Paul stretched his Queen’s Club winning streak to nine with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ugo Humbert on Saturday. With the win he becomes the third ATP player to hit the 30-win mark in 2026.

“I served for the first set, he broke me immediately,” Cerundolo said, recalling the ebbs and flows of the contest. “In the third set, the same – I broke at the beginning, and he broke me. Luckily, at the end, when I broke, I could hold my serve, but it was a really tough match, to be honest, almost three hours.

Two hours and 41 minutes, in fact. And 10 breaks of serve between the two (six for Cerundolo and four for Nakashima). 

Nakashima took the first set from a break down, taking a tight tiebreak, before squandering a break lead in the second set as Cerundolo pushed back. 

In a match that was played with fine margins, Cerundolo was able to keep his nerve to snap a run of six consecutive semifinals lost above the 250 level. 

Cerundolo had the first break in the third, but gave it back immediately. Two games later he took the lead for good, breaking for 5-4 before serving out the victory. 

“He’s playing really great tennis, so I’m super happy because it was a super tough match and I played well, so just happy the way that I fought through the whole match,” the 27-year-old from Buenos Aires said. 

What did he say to his team before and after the contest? 

“I was telling them, I’m gonna leave it all here, and let’s see what happens, and it worked out,” he said. 

Cerundolo will face either Tommy Paul or Ugo Humbert in Sunday’s final, as he bids for his fifth ATP title, and second on grass.