By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, September 5, 2026
Photo credit: Jon Buckle/ROLEX
NEW YORK—Riding a two-set lead and up a break in the third, Taylor Fritz was in cruise control.
Then Francisco Cerundolo began firing his forehand, turning Arthur Ashe Stadium into a massive sinkhole for Fritz’s US Open dreams.
World No. 25 Cerundolo made his Ashe Stadium debut one to remember, rallying for a dramatic 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fritz fighting into the US Open fourth round for the first time.
“I was, you know, lucky to get through the first and the second sets, just because he wasn’t serving great,” Fritz said. “He was making some mistakes. So I was able to get breaks and then just kind of fight through, like, service games. Like, he had so many opportunities to break me. I was playing very good from the baseline.
“He was making some mistakes on those points. I played some of those points pretty well. I just needed to serve a bit better. He played a very good game to break me to start the — to get the break back in the third. It was kind of just the same thing that had been happening, as I wasn’t serving as well as I normally do.”
It was Cerundolo’s second career comeback from a two-set deficit as he denied Fritz’s bid to join Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Frances Tiafoe as the fourth American man to reach four consecutive US Open fourth rounds in this century.
The Argentinean owns a massive inside-out forehand. Today, Cerundolo hammered his inside-in forehand with menacing intent as the three hour, 40-minute match progressed.
“He was playing way better than me the first two sets, really aggressive,” Cerundolo told Sam Querrey after rallying from two-sets down for the second straight year in New York. “I wasn’t feeling comfortable at all.
“And after I broke back in the third, I started getting into it step-by-step. I think in the fourth and fifth sets I played really good tennis that I wasn’t finding that tennis in the previous sets and previous rounds.
“I mean Taylor is a top player. He played the final here and won a lot of matches so I knew how difficult it is to play against him. And winning here in my first time on Ashe, is fantastic.”
It’s a gut-wrenching loss for Washington, DC champion Fritz, who had posted a 10-1 record on home soil since July.
The ninth-seeded Fritz is the sixth Top 10 men’s seed to fall before the fourth round. Fritz joins third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who lost to Karen Khachanov in the second round, fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic, stunned by Mariano Navone in the opening round, No. 5-seeded French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli, who lost to Alexander Blockx today, sixth-seeded Aussie Alex de Minaur, who bowed to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round and 10th-seeded Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils, who was defeated by Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opener, in being bounced out of New York.
Though Fritz actually won two more points today (150 to 148), Cerundolo cranked more winners—41 to 37—and converted six of his nine break-point chances.
The final set took a dramatic turn in the last three games.
Facing triple break point down 3-4 in the final set, Cerundolo stubbornly dug in with defiance and denied all three break points to level the decider.
Strengthened by that struggle, Cerundolo caught a break in the ninth game. Fritz opened with a double fault then was forced to respond off his back foot as Cerundolo cranked an inside-in forehand for break points.
At that point, Fritz seemed to snap a shoelace and took a brief timeout to change it. Returning to court, Fritz caught up to a net-cord shot, lined up his forehand but netted his shot then bounced his Head racquet off the court in frustration as Cerundolo broke for 5-4.
“I mean, he definitely got more confident in his shots. He played a lot better,” Fritz said. “From the baseline I felt like what won me the first two sets was that from the baseline I was playing really well, and I think that he started playing more aggressive and making less mistakes. It just makes it tougher.”
Still, closure was complicated as Cerundolo rallied from Love-30 whipping a heavy serve to edge ahead 40-30. When Frtiz’s final shot missed the mark, Cerundolo was into the fourth round for the first time.
Fritz showed class in the aftermath of a stinging defeat, embracing Cerundolo at net.
It’s been the season of Cerundolo at two Slams this summer. Younger brother Juan Manuel Cerundolo upset world No. 1 Jannik Sinner 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 en route to the Roland Garros fourth round in June.
The 28-year-old Cerundolo moves on to face Blockx with a maiden US Open quarterfinal on the line for both men.
For Fritz, this Flushing Meadows fail is a major opportunity lost. Fritz, who permitted just 11 games en route to the third round, was playing for a second US Open final in the last three years to exploit a draw that lacks No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who withdrew with a right knee injury, and Grand Slam king Djokovic.
Fritz’s demise leaves six American men still in the field: No. 8-seeded Ben Shelton, 11th-seeded Frances Tiafoe, 14th-seeded Learner Tien, No. 20-seeded Tommy Paul, Alex Michelsen and NCAA champion Michael Zheng of Columbia University.
In the end, Fritz was left running what might have been.
“The first set, two and a half sets, I felt like he wasn’t serving great. When he made his first serves, the spots weren’t always great, and the percentage was not super high,” Fritz said. “Then I felt like the fourth and fifth he served incredible, spots great. He served really well. He served himself out of trouble in the fifth.
“My level from the baseline just declined a little bit. I wasn’t hitting the ball as good as I was earlier in the match. When that happens, it gets a little tougher to play those pressure moments, because I’m a bit more unsure about my ball striking.”
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