“I wanted to play!”

With a smile of astonishment, that was the first thing to come out of Francisco Cerundolo’s mouth on court having made it to the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau following the retirement of Jannik Skinner.

His spontaneity comes as no surprise; at 23 years of age, Cerundolo is having the best week of his career on his debut at an ATP Masters 1000, but he has been knocking on the door of the upper echelons of the ATP Tour for some time.

In Miami, Cerundolo has become the first player to reach the singles semi-finals on his Masters 1000 debut since Jerzy Janowicz did so in Paris in 2012, But he made it clear that he is here to stay and that his desire to compete, improve and perform well both on and off court, have led him to this incredible moment.

“Fran ended the match slightly annoyed because he wanted to keep playing, to keep competing… he really wants to be here and he is showing that in all of his matches,” his young, 30-year-old coach Kevin Konfederak tells ATPTour.com.

Meanwhile, at home, his parents Maria Luz and Alejandro are glued to the television for every match and try to arrange their lives around their son’s brilliant performances. The family also includes his sister ‘Coni’, who is in South Africa playing in the Hockey Junior World Cup for Argentina.

Of course, after his parents, his tennis-playing brother Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who also had a good week in Miami by reaching the third round, is probably Francisco’s number one fan.

Were you expecting ‘Fran’ to burst onto the scene like this? “He deserved a week like this… He looked like he could do it coming in, his tennis was already there, he just needed a bit of luck. Last year they froze his ranking, he was on the verge of the Top 100 and he lost confidence. But now he’s showing the level he has and always has had,” Juan Manuel explained.

“This is crazy, we talked about it when we were younger; we have been together through every stage of his career and I’ll always want the greatest of success for him and it makes me happy to have shared this week with him, although it’s a shame that I lost first and we couldn’t play each other,” Juan Manuel said laughing.

In fact, Francisco asked his younger brother for advice before facing Frances Tiafoe. “I’m happy that he was able to keep winning two more matches and he’s in the semis and I think he can go even further,” he said.

For the eldest of the Cerundolo brothers, tennis is far from being the only thing on his mind; academics and books have always been a priority in his life and, the way he sees it, study is very compatible with high-performance sport.

After finishing his secondary studies in Buenos Aires, Cerundolo even did a semester of economics in the United States, at the University of South Carolina in 2018. He then decided that he wanted to try his luck on the ATP Tour, but a few years ago the elder Cerundolo brother started to study an online degree in management, economics and finance at the University of Palermo, with the agreement of the ATP.

Clearly, he is capable of combining the two activities, tennis and academic studies. For example, in 2020, a week when he sat three exams, he won an ATP Challenger event in Split, Croatia, moving him into the Top 200. “In Miami, I haven’t had much time to study really,” he admits this time. “But it’s something that I want to keep doing and I hope to be able to graduate and get my university degree.”

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Now, Francisco has earned himself a place on the brink of the Top 50 tennis players in the world by joining the list of Argentines in the semi-finals of the Miami Masters 1000 this century, which includes David Nalbandian (2006), Juan Monaco (2012) and Juan Martin del Potro (2009 and 2018).

“Today, I’m sure we’ll go to a great place for dinner with the team and then I’ll go and watch the Zverev – Ruud match with popcorn… I don’t care who wins, I’ve seen them both thousands of times on TV,” he says laughing. Feeling confident, playing the best tennis of his life and enjoying the moment, this is the life of Francisco Cerundolo.

Did You Know?
Francisco Cerundolo is the lowest-ranked Miami Open singles semi-finalist in the history of the tournament (1985-2019, 2021-22). The previous lowest was No. 74 Sebastien Grosjean in 1999.

The third time was the charm for Casper Ruud on Wednesday evening at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

On his third attempt, the Norwegian earned his first win against second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to advance to a semi-final showdown against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo. The winner will make his first ATP Masters 1000 final.

“It feels good and it means a lot. This is my first semi-final in a Masters 1000 on hard courts, so that’s a good feeling. I’m very happy to do it here in Miami,” Ruud told ATPTour.com. “I’ve felt good the couple weeks I’ve been here practising and the matches have felt very good. I want to of course keep going. Today was my toughest challenge yet of the tournament and on Friday will be another big one. I hope that I can take what I’ve learned from my three previous [Masters 1000] semi-finals and bring it into Friday’s match.” 

Ruud lost his first three Masters 1000 quarter-finals on this surface — including two against Zverev last year — without winning a set. But he clawed past the gritty German for his fifth Top 10 victory (5-15).

“I think I’ve seen Sascha play better than he did today, but I took advantage of it,” Ruud said. “I was focussed, I was on top of my game and of course I had a little down period in the second, but I stayed focussed and served really well in the first and third sets. That was the key for the match, I think.”

Now the 23-year-old will have a big opportunity against World No. 103 Cerundolo, who had never previously competed in a Masters 1000 main draw or won a tour-level match on hard court. This will be the pair’s first ATP Head2Head clash.

For a moment, it seemed Ruud would cruise into that matchup. Zverev was slightly low on energy throughout the first set and was unable to do much with Ruud’s heavy topspin groundstrokes.

But at 0-0 in the second set, Zverev saved two break points, the second of which came on a bold second-serve ace down the T. That boosted the two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion’s confidence, and Zverev significantly raised his level and began firing from the baseline. On the other side of the net, Ruud lost control of his solid game and struggled to regain control of the match.

When the Norwegian received treatment on his right foot, which he later said was because of blisters on a toe, the momentum was firmly in Zverev’s corner. Ruud never panicked, though. On break point at 1-0 in the decider he returned a massive 113mph second serve down the T and seized the opportunity with his forehand to play aggressively, breaking Zverev’s serve for a 2-0 lead.

The seven-time ATP Tour titlist recaptured his game from there and despite slight signs of nerves serving at 4-2, he remained calm. Ruud hit his sixth ace before showing the crowd a wide smile after earning his best victory by ATP Ranking against the World No. 4.

“It was great to get that break early on [in the third set] and I was able to keep it all the way out,” Ruud told Tennis TV. “I was serving well. I can thank my serving for the win today.”

The rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is renowned in tennis circles and throughout the wider sports world. What some might not know is that the first two clashes between the two superstars came at the same tournament — the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Federer entered the pair’s third-round meeting in 2004 as the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings, fresh off a title run at Indian Wells. Nadal was a 17-year-old on the rise, but still World No. 34 and known for his clay-court prowess.

What followed was a stunning display by the Spaniard, who clinched their first battle 6-3, 6-3, on hard courts no less.

“I’m very happy because I played one of the best matches in my life,” Nadal said at the time. “Obviously, he didn’t play his best tennis and that’s the reason why I could win. I mean, if he had played his best tennis, I would have had no chance. But that’s what happens in tennis. If a player like me plays at a very, very good level and a top player like Roger doesn’t play his best tennis, I can win.”

One year on, the pair met in the Miami final. Nadal once again appeared ready to stun the Swiss. However, Federer rallied from two sets down to deny the teen 2-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-1.

“It’s one thing to come back from two sets to love and then start the fifth and then in the end lose. So I’m really happy that I came back, because… I’ve hardly ever done it in my career,” Federer said. “This is a big moment in my career. Especially in the finals against a player of this calibre, to really come back, this is not the normal thing I’m doing usually.”

Federer and Nadal have played 38 times since then, with the Spaniard leading their ATP Head2Head series 24-16.

Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner came through a nerve-wracking finish to upset second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury and clinch the remaining semi-final spot at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Wednesday.

The Polish-American pairing required an Isner ace to convert their fourth match point and complete a 7-6(7), 6-3 victory at Hard Rock Stadium as they continued to impress in their first tournament playing together.

Hurkacz and Isner recovered the only break points of the first set from 30/40 in the sixth game and were able to hit back from a tricky position again in the tie-break. They saved two set points, one of them with a huge Hurkacz ace, before converting the first one of their own after Ram pushed a difficult volley wide.

Two breaks in the second set was enough to clinch the match for the wild card pairing, although they had to hold their nerve in a dramatic final game as Ram and Salisbury recovered from 40/0 on the Isner serve to force a sudden death deciding point. The American duly delivered an ace to extinguish the second-seeded pairing’s mini-revival and set a semi-final clash with Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.

Hurkacz and Isner produced clutch serving under pressure throughout the one-and-a-half-hour encounter, firing nine aces, saving five out of six break points they faced, and winning 78% (38/49) of points behind their first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

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Although seeking their first title together, Isner and Hurkacz have both won ATP Masters 1000 titles before. Isner has triumphed twice in Indian Wells as well as in Rome and Shanghai, while Hurkacz lifted the trophy in Paris in 2020.

Defeat for Ram and Salisbury leaves them still hunting a second Masters 1000 title. They lifted the trophy in Toronto last year and followed that with a second Grand Slam title at the US Open, triumphs which have contributed to Salisbury’s rise to World No. 1 that will be confirmed in next week’s edition of the ATP Rankings.

Francisco Cerundolo advanced into the semi-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau Wednesday after Italian Jannik Sinner was forced to retire due to foot blisters. The Argentine was leading 4-1 in the first set when Sinner called the match after 23 minutes.

The World No. 103 held a 0-2 tour-level record on hard courts prior to this week, but is now into the last four on his ATP Masters 1000 debut. The 23-year-old earned standout victories over Tallon Griekspoor, Reilly Opelka (second-set retirement), Gael Monfils and Frances Tiafoe en route to his match with Sinner.

“I didn’t know anything,” Cerundolo said in his on-court interview. “When I was serving at 3-1, 30/0, I saw him bending down. It was really strange. I didn’t see anything wrong and I hope he is ok, he is a great player. It means a lot [to advance]. It is everything I have dreamed of.”

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Cerundolo will aim to continue his fairytale run when he faces second-seeded German Alexander Zverev or Norway’s Casper Ruud in the semi-finals in Florida.

The Argentine overcame Tiafoe in a tough three-set battle in his previous match, hammering forehands and demonstrating great agility as he showcased his hard-court prowess to outlast the American.

Cerundolo, who reached his maiden tour-level the final in Buenos Aires last year, has enjoyed a strong 2022 campaign, winning an ATP Challenger Tour title on clay before soaring into the semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro.

#NextGenATP star Sinner turned heads when he became the second-youngest finalist in Miami’s 36-year tournament history aged 19 last season.

“It’s a blister, and I couldn’t move,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference. “The last game against Nick, I had felt it, and today I tried but it didn’t work. Especially when I slide, but also when I move, when it makes contact with the shoe is tough, but we have to figure out and find a way.”

This week he triumphed over Emil Ruusuvuori, Pablo Carreno Busta and Nick Kyrgios to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the year. The 20-year-old also advanced to the last eight at the Australian Open and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The last two semi-final spots are up for grabs at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Thursday. Daniil Medvedev takes on defending champion Hubert Hurkacz knowing a win in their quarter-final is enough to take him back to World No. 1, while #NextGenATP sensation Carlos Alcaraz continues his bid to become the youngest man to lift the trophy in Miami when he faces Miomir Kecmanovic.

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[1] Daniil Medvedev vs. [8] Hubert Hurkacz (POL)

Daniil Medvedev shoots for a maiden semi-final in Miami on Thursday with the small matter of a return to World No. 1 also at stake when he steps onto Hard Rock Stadium to face defending champion Hubert Hurkacz.

Medvedev’s third-round defeat to Gael Monfils at Indian Wells saw him slip from top spot below Novak Djokovic in the ATP Rankings. The top seed has looked back to his best in Miami so far, however, dismissing two-time champion Andy Murray, Pedro Martinez and Jenson Brooksby in straight sets to reach the last eight.

“At this moment, I don’t feel any pressure,” said Medvedev when asked about the No. 1 spot after his fourth-round win over Brooksby. “It’s great that I have this chance. Only one match left.

“Of course, maybe during the match, pressure can start to build up, depending how the match is going. I mean, if you have 5-0, 40/0, maybe less pressure. If it’s 6/5 in the tiebreak in the third set, there is a little bit more. But at this moment it’s just a lot of extra motivation to try to make this one more step.”

Hurkacz is the player hoping to take advantage if the situation does affect Medvedev, but the Pole hardly needs extra motivation of his own. The World No. 10 is defending his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title, clinched in a three-set thriller against Jannik Sinner last year, as he hunts a first trophy of 2022.

The eighth seed has already dealt with plenty of power during his opening three matches in Miami, seeing off big-servers Arthur Rinderknech and Lloyd Harris either side of a three-set battle with the free-hitting Aslan Karatsev. Hurkacz now faces a combination of those attributes in Medvedev, whose big first delivery and fierce groundstrokes from deep will put the World No. 10’s title defence to the ultimate test.

The pair has met three times before, all in the 2021 season. Hurkacz claimed victory on the grass at Wimbledon, but Medvedev triumphed on the hard courts at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto and the Nitto ATP Finals. With all those matches going to deciding sets, this latest collision between two of the biggest baseline hitters on Tour should prove an intriguing spectacle in Miami.

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[14] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)

Where to start with Carlos Alcaraz in 2022? The 18-year-old continues to exceed all expectations for a player so new to the Tour, and on Thursday he goes into a first meeting with Miomir Kecmanovic looking to reach a second Masters 1000 semi-final in the space of two weeks.

Alcaraz lost in the first round on debut in Miami in 2021, but this year’s run can hardly be considered a surprise given his recent form. The Spaniard picked up a maiden ATP 500 title in Rio de Janeiro in February, was only stopped by Rafael Nadal in the final four at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and his 7-5, 6-3 fourth-round win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in south Florida on Tuesday night took him to 15-2 for the season.

The 14th seed may have arrived in Miami with only minimal experience of playing matches in the hot and humid conditions on the US east coast, but Alcaraz has had no issues settling in at Hard Rock Stadium and is thriving in the atmosphere at the Masters 1000 event.

“It was tough, but yeah, fun playing in front of this crazy crowd,” said the reigning Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion after his win over Tsitsipas on Grandstand. “It was pretty amazing. [I gave] a lot of energy to come back in the first set. To be able to beat Tsitsipas in front of these fans was incredible, [it] was fun.”

On Thursday he meets an opponent also enjoying a dream 2022 Sunshine Double. Kecmanovic reached the quarter-finals in Indian Wells for the second time two weeks ago and in Miami has taken out a trio of impressive young North American stars in Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda, and Taylor Fritz. The World No. 48 is now into his fourth quarter-final in as many tournaments.

Kecmanovic had never been past the second round in south Florida prior to this year, but now stands just a win away from a maiden Masters 1000 semi-final after avenging his Indian Wells quarter-final loss to Fritz by ousting the American in three sets in the fourth round on Tuesday. The Serb can turn to his coach, David Nalbandian, for advice on how to take the next step – the Argentine former World No. 3 reached the semi-finals in Miami in 2006 – but once he takes to the court on Thursday it will be down to him to find a way to halt the Alcaraz charge.