Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerúndolo advanced to the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Colombia’s Nicolás Mejía, setting up a meeting with world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz. The 24-year-old Argentine needed just one hour and 22 minutes to get past Mejía, a qualifier ranked No. 119 in the world. Cerúndolo, ranked 55th, recovered from an early deficit and took control of the match with his left-handed serve and consistent baseline play.
He finished with five aces, committed no double faults and won 84% of the points behind his first serve. Cerúndolo converted four of seven break-point opportunities while dropping his own serve twice. The victory was Cerúndolo’s first at the Shanghai Masters after losing in the opening round of his tournament debut last year.
His reward is a considerably tougher assignment against Alcaraz, who enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and one of the favorites for the title. The Spaniard arrives in Shanghai fresh off winning the Japan Open in Tokyo on Tuesday, defeating Czech player Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 in the final.
That victory marked Alcaraz’s first title since returning from a lengthy absence caused by a wrist injury. The 23-year-old has steadily regained his form in recent months and is looking to win the Shanghai Masters for the first time. His best previous result at the tournament was a quarterfinal appearance in 2024.
Saturday’s second-round meeting will be the first official tour-level match between Alcaraz and Cerúndolo, although the two players have faced each other before. They met at the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, where Alcaraz defeated the Argentine 4-0, 4-1, 2-4, 4-3 (7-3) during the group stage. Alcaraz went on to win that tournament, which featured some of the leading young players in men’s tennis.
Cerúndolo has since developed into an established presence on the ATP Tour, with several notable performances against higher-ranked opponents. His biggest victory came at this year’s French Open, where he stunned then-world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the second round. The Argentine rallied from two sets down to win 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 after Sinner began struggling with physical problems while leading in the third set. The result ended the Italian’s 30-match winning streak.
Cerúndolo followed that victory with a nearly six-hour win over Spain’s Martín Landaluce to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. Those results added to a career that began attracting international attention in 2021, when Cerúndolo won the Córdoba Open in Argentina as a 19-year-old qualifier making his ATP Tour debut.
Thursday was also a productive day for Argentine tennis in Shanghai. Sebastián Báez recovered from a slow start to defeat American Marcos Giron 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Thiago Tirante advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic, while Camilo Ugo Carabelli rallied past qualifier Ilya Simakin 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
The four victories gave Argentina a strong opening to the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, although Cerúndolo now faces the highest-profile challenge of the group. For Alcaraz, Saturday’s match offers an opportunity to extend his recent winning run. For Cerúndolo, it is another chance to test himself against one of the world’s best players just over four months after producing one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 season.
