Muller takes Cerundolo to Rio quarters and into top 50

Alexandre Muller's fine run continued in Rio de Janeiro. After eliminating crowd favorite João Fonseca (6-1, 7-6) in the first round and then Tomas Martin Etcheverry (7-5, 7-6), the 28-year-old Frenchman put in another fine performance against a higher-ranked player.

This time, Muller overcame Francisco Cerundolo, a finalist last week at the ATP tournament in Buenos Aires and currently ranked 26th in the world. Here too, the 28-year-old won in two sets (7-5, 6-1).

Muller qualifies for the semi-finals of this ATP 500 tournament in Brazil and confirms his excellent start to the season in terms of results.

Having won the title in Hong Kong to open the year 2025, the Frenchman, who has put together a string of convincing matches, has been rewarded for his efforts, as he is now guaranteed a place in the top 50 for the first time in his career.

Until now, Muller had never been higher than 56th in the world rankings. With this success against Cerundolo, he is now in 46th position, and may well be in a better position by the end of the week.

For a place in the biggest final of his career, Alexandre Muller will be up against another Argentinian player, Francisco Comesaña, who defeated Alexander Zverev.