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Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo, 23, admitted he was lef stunned after Novak Djokovic approached him and congratulated him on his run at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. In the February of 2021, Cerundolo reached his first ATP final as a qualifier in Buenos Aires.
Two months later, Cerundolo went to Belgrade for the Serbia Open, which was highlighted by the appearance of Djokovic. “I had just made the final here in Buenos Aires and went to Belgrade to play the qualies. Djokovic came to me, to say hello to me.
I was ranked 110 or 120, and Djokovic came to me, introduced himself and congratulated me for my Buenos Aires final. [He congratulated me] for everything that I had won. He knew everything. At least [he] knows everything, I don’t know about the others.
He even asked about my brother, and I said to myself, 'Wow! This guy is No. 1 in the world, and yet he knows everything,'" Cerundolo told ESPN Tennis, per Sportskeeda.
Cerundolo enjoying a good season
After introducing himself to the tennis world last season, Cerundolo has elevated his game to another level in 2022.
This month, Cerundolo put up a strong run in Bastad to lift his first ATP title. After winning Bastad, Cerundolo also had a strong run in Hamburg as he made the semifinal at the tournament. Following back-to-back strong runs in Bastad and Hamburg, Cerundolo rose to a career high ranking of No.
24 in the world. It has been a great season for Cerundolo so far, who also got a chance to play on the Wimbledon's Centre Court. In the Wimbledon first round, Cerundolo clashed record 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
Cerundolo actually competed extremely well against Nadal, but the Spaniard escaped with a 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4. Now, Cerundolo is preparing for the North American hard court swing.