Francisco Cerúndolo is a heavy-hitting baseliner whose best grass tennis comes in short bursts at the tour events, while Wimbledon has so far been a blind spot. He finished 2026 25th in the men’s GTC Grass Rankings with a rating of 98, down from 15th before the season despite winning Queen’s.
Grass at a glance
- GTC Grass Rating: 98, 25th in the men’s rankings (15th before the season)
- Pillars: Lawn Form 46, Arsenal 62, Wimbledon 38, Nerve 44
- Nationality: Argentina
- Best Wimbledon result: Second round (2023)
- Grass titles: Eastbourne 2023, Queen’s 2026
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
How Francisco plays on grass
Cerúndolo’s forehand is the shot that travels to grass. He hits it with plenty of pace and spin, and on a fast court it pushes opponents back far enough for him to step in and finish. When he serves well and gets the forehand into play early, he can beat anyone at a 250 or 500 event, as his two grass titles show.
The rest of the grass toolkit is thinner. His backhand is steady rather than penetrating on low balls, he uses the slice mainly to reset, and he comes to the net only to finish points already won. His return position is deep, a clay court habit that gives up time on grass. An Arsenal pillar of 62 reflects that split between one major weapon and an ordinary supporting cast. His Nerve score of 44 is the weakest part of his profile: his Wimbledon matches have tended to slip away quickly rather than turn on a few points, though the 2026 Queen’s final showed he can recover from losing a tight opening set.
Grass record
His first grass title came at Eastbourne in 2023, the second tour-level title of his career after Båstad the year before. Wimbledon has been much harder. He lost in qualifying in 2021, in the first round in 2022, in the second round in 2023 and in the first round again in 2024 and 2025. For a player who has spent long spells in the top 25, that is a thin return, and it explains a Wimbledon pillar of 38.
The 2026 grass season
Queen’s gave him the biggest title of his career. He won three-set matches against Aleksandar Kovacevic, Arthur Fery and Brandon Nakashima, beating Nakashima 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals, and then came from a set and a break down to beat eighth seed Tommy Paul 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 in a final of three hours and two minutes. He became the first Argentine to win the Queen’s title, and it was his first ATP 500 trophy. GTC held his rating at 105 after the week.
The swing then went wrong. He withdrew from Eastbourne with a hip problem, and at Wimbledon, seeded 18th, he lost 1-6, 4-6, 3-6 to Jaume Munar in less than two hours. That fourth first-round exit in five Wimbledon main draws took his rating from 105 to 98.
Looking ahead to 2027
Cerúndolo’s challenge is translating tour-level grass results into best of five form. Defending Queen’s will be a large part of his 2027 rating, and the decision to play or rest the following week will matter given this year’s hip issue. Technically, a closer return position and more use of the backhand slice would make him harder to hurry at Wimbledon. A realistic target is a first Wimbledon third round, which would do more for his GTC standing than another tour title.
