The ATP Buenos Aires final will pit experience against youth. World No. 28 Francisco Cerundolo has played near-flawless tennis to reach his second final at the Argentina Open. He can become the third home player in five years to lift the title in this tournament. However, fast-rising Brazilian young gun Joao Fonseca could be an insurmountable challenge. Who will reign supreme on Sunday?
ATP Buenos Aires Final Prediction
Francisco Cerundolo vs Joao Fonseca
Head-to-head: first meeting
For the fourth time in six years, an Argentinian will appear in the final match in Buenos Aires. This week, it is Francisco Cerundolo’s turn. This is actually his second final (he lost to Diego Schwartzman in 2021 as a qualifier). Cerundolo has done his work efficiently. He’s lost only one set during the tournament. That was expected when he came up against Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal. But he caused the biggest shock of the tournament when he battled back to win in three and send the top seed packing. Aside from that hard-fought victory, he’s only dropped a maximum of four games per set.
Joao Fonseca arrived at this tournament as Brazil’s most promising tennis star. Fonseca has lived up to that reputation. He won the NextGen title last December and started the year in immaculate fashion by lifting the Canberra Challenger title. Perhaps his career highlight so far was in qualifying for the Australian Open and defeating Andrey Rublev on his Grand Slam main draw debut.
This week, Fonseca became the youngest ATP finalist since 2021. His route to the title match was littered with major roadblocks, but he cleared them. The quarterfinal win over Mariano Navone was where his bravery shone. Fonseca saved two match points, the second of which was when he planted a risky backhand down the line for a winner. The Golden Swing is famous for being a career launching pad for some tennis players (Carlos Alcaraz in Rio comes to mind). So, we could be looking at a tennis gem. If anything, Fonseca has shown he’s ready to compete at a very high standard and willing to make the step up onto the main scene. Cerundolo’s experience might not suffice.
Prediction: Fonseca in 3
Main Photo Credit: David Kirouac – USA TODAY Sports
