Nicolas Massu sparks an instant championship formula for Francisco Cerundolo
Seven days before holding aloft the heavy silver trophy at the Queen’s Club, Francisco Cerundolo was on a clay court half a world away in Buenos Aires, hitting tennis balls with a man he barely knew.
There were no manicured lawns in sight, no historical echoes of the HSBC Championships, and certainly no grand expectations of a grass-court masterclass.
There was only a three-day training block, a fresh notebook, and a newly minted partnership between the world’s most explosive Argentinian forehand and one of South America’s most fiercely passionate tennis minds, Nicolas Massú.
What followed over the subsequent week in West London defied the traditional laws of tennis coaching.
Relationships on the ATP Tour are usually forged through months of grueling trial and error, subtle adjustments, and shared heartbreaks. But Cerundolo and Massú skipped the introductory chapters entirely, writing a fairytale ending in their very first week on the job.
By the time Cerundolo weathered a brutal three-hour storm against Tommy Paul to claim a 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory, the immediate impact of the Massú effect was undeniable. It was a milestone moment for the 27-year-old, marking the biggest title of his career and his maiden ATP 500 crown.
“Well, it feels incredible, you know,” Cerundolo admitted to reporters, still visibly drained but glowing in the aftermath of his triumph. “Winning my first ATP 500 here in Queen’s, such a historical event. I mean, so many great champions, legends, it’s something amazing. I would never imagine lifting this trophy my whole life, but here I am, the winner of the week.”
The catalyst for this dream week dates back to a post-Roland Garros brainstorming session.
Having parted ways with his previous coaching setup, Cerundolo was working alongside veteran strategist Pablo Cuevas when a surprising name entered the conversation.
Massú, the legendary Chilean who guided Dominic Thiem to a US Open title and famously captured two Olympic gold medals in Athens, was suddenly a free agent after a stint with Hubert Hurkacz.
“When I finish with my other coach — I had two coaches before — and I was with Pablo Cuevas, he’s still in the team, I don’t know, French Open, whatever, and we were thinking who to join, and he brought to the table Nico Massu,” Cerundolo recalled of the sudden alignment. “I didn’t even think about him, you know, and he brought it up. I said, Okay, yes, let’s try. Let’s give him a call, a video call, just talk to him. I didn’t know him, just hi and bye-bye in the tournament.”
That digital introduction quickly revealed a profound alignment in philosophy. Both men possess a baseline identity built on relentless intensity, heavy hitting, and an uncompromising refusal to beat themselves.
“Yeah, I think we had a good feeling, good connection,” Cerundolo said. “We talk about tennis a little bit, and we have a similarities there. So we say, Okay, let’s give it a try. When I came back from French Open, if you can, you just come to Argentina to practice on this, and we try here on the grass season and that’s how we started.”
The dividends of that brief Buenos Aires summit were paid in full during a punishing week at Queen’s.
Cerundolo arrived in London with Massú in his corner and immediately found himself in deep waters, surviving consecutive three-hour marathons leading up to Sunday’s final.
Against Paul, when he dropped a grueling one-hour opening set and slipped to a break down in the second, the physical and emotional fatigue threatened to derail his historic run.
In those dark moments, the trademark grit that defined Massú’s playing career seemed to manifest in Cerundolo’s resilience. The Argentinian dug deep, saving break points at 4-4 in the second set before flipping the momentum entirely.
The sudden synergy between coach and player has transformed Cerundolo’s grass-court expectations, turning an experiment into an elite partnership. While the tennis world marvels at the speed of their success, the champion himself can only smile at the sheer absurdity of their perfect start.
“Well, I mean, it’s a dream week, you know,” Cerundolo laughed. “We started last week training in Buenos Aires for three days. We came here and we ended up lifting this trophy. I was just joking with him. Hopefully we have many more weeks like that, and we get a little bit more used to.”
