Arthur Rinderknech Advances at Paris Masters After Francisco Cerundolo Retires

Arthur Rinderknech advanced to the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters after 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo was forced to retire due to a back injury during their match. The encounter concluded with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (2), 2-0, marking the Frenchman's first victory on the tour since reaching the third round of the US Open.

Cerundolo appeared to control the early stages of the match on Court Central, claiming the opening set in 32 minutes after breaking serve in the second game. The Argentine maintained his momentum into the second set, eventually breaking at 4-4 to serve for the match.

However, Rinderknech immediately broke back and dominated the subsequent tie-break 7-2 to force a deciding set. Following the second-set tie-break, Cerundolo took a medical time-out to address his physical discomfort before returning to the court.

In the opening game of the third set, Rinderknech broke serve and held to love, extending his advantage to 2-0 before Cerundolo ultimately decided to stop play after one hour and 42 minutes. Reflecting on the abrupt ending, Rinderknech noted that he did not initially notice the severity of the issue, stating that he thought the medical break might just be an attempt to disrupt his rhythm as he was building momentum.

“I struggled to get going. It wasn’t easy, I didn’t have the best feelings. But at the same time it’s normal: I haven’t had much rhythm for a while, so not many certainties either,” Rinderknech said regarding his sluggish start. “I knew it would be a fight, and it was from start to finish. We hung on, he served for the match, but I managed to turn it around, so that’s cool.”

With this result, Rinderknech maintains a perfect 2-0 record against Cerundolo in tour-level meetings, having previously defeated him at the 2023 United Cup. The victory also moves the Frenchman into the second round in Paris for the third consecutive year.

Looking ahead, Rinderknech will face Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci in the next round. Meanwhile, Cerundolo's exit adds to a growing list of early departures at the tournament, following the withdrawals of fifth seed Flavio Cobolli and 13th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.