Cerúndolo’s demanding debut at Wimbledon | ATP Tour

Francisco Cerundolo

Cerúndolo’s demanding debut at Wimbledon

Tabilo also debuts this Tuesday in London

July 01, 2024

‘Fran’ Cerúndolo is ready for his debut in a new Grand Slam, a level at which he has always scored in 2024: one victory in Australia and three at Roland Garros. However, a demanding start awaits him at the Cathedral, especially since he will face No. 44 Roman Safiullin, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2023.

The Argentine, with a 7-7 career record on the surface and a title holder at Eastbourne 2023, has the momentum of having won his last six debuts in main draws on the circuit, and will be looking for his first victory of the year on the surface, as will Safiullin, who has not won a tour match since April in Monte Carlo (he has a streak of seven losses on the circuit).

However, the No. 26 seed will not be the only one with a difficult debut. After an absence of almost three months due to injury, Facundo Díaz Acosta will be back in action when he faces British Cameron Norrie in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday. It will be his first appearance in a main draw on the grass circuit.

His only previous performance on the surface is in this tournament, where he lost in the opening round of qualifying in both 2022 and 2023. Without the pressure of playing in his favorite condition, the current No. 67 in the PIF ATP Rankings will be looking for revenge against Norrie (he leads the head-to-head 1-0) and also his first victory in Grand Slam main draws (0-3 record).

Another Argentine looking for a first grass-court win on Tuesday will be Federico Coria when he faces Australian Adam Walton, No. 95 in the rankings, with whom he has no previous matches. If he does, he would move to 1-3 on the surface and would face the winner of the duel between Andrey Rublev and Argentine Francisco Comesaña, who has a 0-3 record in main draws on the circuit.

Also, No. 30 seed Tomas Etcheverry will be facing Italian Luca Nardi in search of his fifth Grand Slam victory of the year, and second of his career on grass (first this year). Nardi, No. 73, is aiming for his second best victory, and first since beating Novak Djokovic this year in Indian Wells, who also makes his debut on Tuesday, but against Czech Vit Korpiva.

In other Spanish matches to watch on the day, Alejandro Tabilo will face the British Daniel Evans, with whom he has no history. The recent champion in Mallorca, who is in the Top 20 since Monday for the first time in his career, will be looking for his 50th victory on the ATP Tour, and his second at Wimbledon.

In the Spanish group, Roberto Carballés Baena hopes to pull off an upset against German Alexander Zverev, fourth seed; and Jaume Munar will face local Billy Harris, invited by the organization. In addition, Alejandro Moro Cañas will make his debut in a Grand Slam main draw. After getting through the qualifying round, the world No. 188 will face local Jacob Fearnley, another invited by the organization. See full schedule.