In love with the ochre, Cerundolo joins the second week and awaits Djokovic!

He's far from being the most eagerly awaited player at this tournament. Author of a rather average 2024 season, Francisco Cerundolo's only real good result to date was a quarter-final in Madrid, where he beat Alexander Zverev (6-4, 6-2) and Tommy Paul (6-7, 6-4, 6-2).

Ranked 27th in the world this week, the Argentinian has so far enjoyed an excellent tournament in Paris. Although he had said he could shine at Roland Garros, he is now putting his words into action. Despite his lacklustre performances in Rome and Lyon, he has largely dominated all his opponents at Porte d'Auteuil. A solid winner over Yannick Hanfmann in the first round, he had little difficulty in his second match against Filip Misolic.

On Saturday, he took things up a notch again. Against Tommy Paul, ranked 14th in the world and a semi-finalist in Rome (having beaten Hurkacz and Medvedev), the 25-year-old delivered a match of the highest quality. Demonstrating his ability to play on ochre, he exerted constant pressure on his return of serve (8 successful breaks) to blow away a Paul who was not yet good enough on the surface (3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in 2h51).

Having qualified for the second week, he now faces a mountain to climb in the Round of 16. On Monday, he will face the winner of the duel between Lorenzo Musetti and defending champion Novak Djokovic (in progress on the Chatrier).