It was not enough for him to become the first Argentinian brothers to appear together in the main draw for the ATP tournament in the past 30 years (from Carlos and Alejandro Gatiker to Quito and Kitzbühel, 1981), Juan Manuel and Francisco Serondolo They were the protagonists of a project that deserved to find a space in the tennis records but not only. The first, 19 years old, gave himself a great week by winning the ATP Championship in Cordoba, the first major circuit in which he participated, starting with qualifications: a loophole (he was number 335 in the standings) that allowed him to win in one shot 154 places and climbed to 181st place, the second The 22-year-old, who was not surpassed immediately thereafter, reached the first ATP final in Buenos Aires from 137th in the world ranking – he also passed the playoffs – standing only ahead of his compatriot Diego Schwartzman, number one and number 9 in the world. The last two brothers to achieve “back to back” in the final of two consecutive ATP tournaments were Germans Alexander and Misha Zverev, in May 2017, one of whom won in Rome and the other reached the final season in Geneva. “What Juanma did in Cordoba was a decisive catalyst for me – Francisco revealed, from day 112 in the ranking, his new best arrangement – we have a wonderful relationship and what happens to us is incredible, everything has changed from day to day.”
The Sensei Father: “Spur an explosion of a sinner”
Their father Alejandro trains themAnd the Known as Toto, who has worked in the past with Jose Acasuso: He was there by his side when he played the Final in Buenos Aires in 2001 at the age of 18. Since then, the young Argentine was not seen in the ATP final before Juan Manuel. The father-trainer (his mother, Maria Luz is a sports psychologist instead) talks about the difficulties kids face in recent seasons, between the soon-to-be-canceled innovation in the transition round that imposed a separate rating for ITF Futures and then the effects. From the pandemic, he indicated how important it is to see an explosion Yannick Senner. “He was not strong as a kid, he is one of the strangest phenomena of recent years – Serundolo rule is great – We’ve often thought: If he does, we can access him, too. “
That trip to Italy in August 2020
It was precisely this motive that had caused “Cerundolos” to fight back a year ago, when the epidemic stopped the tour and they were confined to the house with their families in Buenos Aires, without a concrete idea of what might happen in the future. However, Francisco continued his physical training, and he also suffered from a wrist injury and tendinitis. In August, the Argentinian brothers decided to go to Europe with Thomas Echeveri, despite the lack of training sessions and often only hitting the wall. “We didn’t know what to do. We traveled to Italy and were quarantined in Arezzo before we started the competition -” explains the flagship at Cerundolo – the journey was tough, full of doubts and tension. After a few months of wandering around, however, we were more relaxed. Inevitably, the first few weeks were complicated, and you lacked confidence and speed. Then something started to change inside Francisco and the hard work and effort began to bear fruit. The first semi-final at the Challenger level in Sibiu (Romania) the first step, then winning 17 of the last 19 games in that circuit in 2020, conquering the titles in Split, Guayaquil and Campinas, to climb more than a hundred places. And very close to the top 100 companies.
Francisco: “I’ve already played tennis. I needed to have confidence”
“My mental capacity has really grown and matured in a year and a half. It’s important to feel good in every aspect, but above all to believe in yourself and know you can do it. Best week of your career? I’ve been playing for a few months already, but because Ranking I had to reach a certain level. Since October, I’ve been making better use of my tennis and it’s been really amazing to get to so many finals in a row. To be able to translate that into ATP tournaments as well. “, 22-year-old analysis Year, which also began, thanks to an agreement between the University of Palermo and the ATP in the last quarter of 2020, a degree course in economics and finance, passing five exams. In parallel, Juan Manuel, who uses his left hand and plays out of clay more, with strikes from below, played seven Futures finals (he had already won three in 2019, when he was still young). And with the feat in Cordoba – the fifth champion in the ATP event with the lowest ranking since 1990 – he gave his father’s first response on the field, convinced he deserved the world’s top 50 but unsure of when. Start showing it. One thing is for sure: if only a few fans knew him before, and now that they amaze everyone, the title Cerundolo will still be etched in the collective memory of those who follow tennis.
Family Affair: McEnroe, Williams, Safin and Murray
The back-to-back exploitation of Argentines brings back the stories of the tennis brothers, a situation not so rare. Without looking far back in time, after Americans Sandy and Jane Mayer, both among the top 10 in the world in the 1980s, one of the most famous couples is McEnroe: if John wins something like 148 singles and doubles championships and five Davis Cups with the United States, Patrick was still an excellent player who reached 28th in the world rankings in 1995, winning Roland Garros in doubles and climbing to third place in the “double rankings”. With some important crosses: She won two championships in pairs, John won the last singles of his career at Patrick’s expense in the 1992 Chicago Grand Prix Final and shared a comment booth on CBS at the end of his career.
Staying in the United States, there is no doubt that Venus and Serena Williams are the two most famous sisters in tennis history – both # 1 – and the largest with their seven Grand Slam titles paving the way for Serena’s 23 titles. Even Russia can boast of having two world records with a racket in the same family: in 2009 Dinara Safina managed to reach the first seat by simulating the achievement of her brother Marat for nine years. No less than two Scottish brothers Andy and Jimmy Murray, who were born fifteen months after each other and both were followed in the fields directly by Mother Judy from the earliest years, and at various times reached the top of the rankings, one in singles and the other in double.
In Italy there are two Berettini, Raul and Nuria Brancaccio
Other cases of brothers in the ring heroes are those of Olivier and Christophe Rochus, who managed to bring Belgium to the top at the beginning of the 2000s (Italy knows something about it, and landed for the first time in Davis precisely because of them …), for the Austrians Gerald and Juergen Melzer (former second-best singles ten), but even more than Bob and Mike Brian, “Federer Duo”: The Star and Stripe Twins are retired in 2020, at age 42, with 119 trophies in show, including 16 championships Major in 30 finals, added to the Olympic gold medal in London 2012 and closed ten seasons in first place. Speaking of the doubles, older fans will remember Luke and Murphy Jensen, who won a Roland Garros Award (1993) but were known above all for their eccentric looks (their long hair and lavish clothes) and their stunning plays.
In addition to the aforementioned German Zverev, Mikael and Elias Ymir, Swedes of Ethiopian descent, are now active in the ring, while Matteo and Jacopo Perettini stand out on the national borders: If after the 2019 tour in the top ten for a year and a half, the younger brother tries to carve out space in The professional ring making his bones in ITF tournaments, ones Matteo has also attended for a long time. Or, in the case of Raؤولl and Nuria Branchio, young people from Torre del Greco managed to reach the ITF level in Antalya (Turkey) one week away from each other. Let’s say two weeks, let’s put it on Fred Pongusto, just like that of “Cerundolos”.
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