Francisco Cerundolo reveals wild reaction when brother Juan Manuel flipped Jannik Sinner match around

Juan Manuel Cerundolo pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 French Open, and his brother Francisco Cerundolo was just as shocked as everyone else. While Juan Manuel was fighting back from two sets down against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Francisco was busy playing his own second-round match against France’s Hugo Gaston on another court. At first, Francisco had no idea what was happening. He later told journalist Ale Klappenbach that he only started hearing updates during his own match. Those updates quickly turned into unbelievable news as Juan Manuel completed a stunning comeback to beat Sinner 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in Paris. The win ended Sinner’s 30-match winning streak and sent the Argentine into the third round of Roland Garros.

Speaking about the moment, Francisco admitted he was completely unaware of his brother’s fightback.

“I didn’t know. I had no f***ing clue. I walked in here and it was set and I was down 4-1 or 3-1. At one point we’d said with my family that they were gonna split up and I looked up there and my family wasn’t there. That’s when I said: ‘hey, what happened?’. So I ask and they tell me I was down two sets to one. ‘Ah, alright, good, he’s fighting’, I thought.”



The surprise did not stop there. As Francisco continued battling Gaston, more people around the court kept sharing updates about Juan Manuel’s comeback. Suddenly, what seemed impossible became real, and it pushed him to keep fighting in his own match.

Francisco Cerundolo says Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s win over Jannik Sinner gave him extra motivation

Francisco said hearing that his younger brother was close to beating the top-ranked player in the world gave him a huge boost. The Argentine revealed that every update increased his determination to stay in his own match and find a way to win.

“Suddenly, I was in the fourth set, heading to the towel and people were telling me my brother was winning. Me suffering and then they’d say: ‘your brother won’. I thought: ‘f***, I’ve gotta win this’. It was all totally insane.”

While Juan Manuel was completing the biggest win of his career, Francisco was also turning his match around. After dropping the opening set against Hugo Gaston, he bounced back strongly to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 and book his place in the third round.

The brothers have now set up exciting Round 3 matches at Roland Garros. Francisco, the tournament’s 25th seed, will face American player Zachary Svajda. Juan Manuel, meanwhile, will take on Spain’s Martin Landaluce as he looks to continue his dream run in Paris.



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