Francisco Cerúndolo used to hate playing at the altitude of the Caja Mágica. Now he is two steps away from the Mutua Madrid Open title.

The Argentine’s memorable run at the tournament continued on Thursday, when he defeated Czech player Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 to reach the second ATP Masters 1000 semifinal of his career. In a high-octane encounter, where only two points stood between him and a flight home, the South American showed huge mental fortitude to progress in the Spanish capital.

Dozens of Argentinian flags adorned the Arantxa Sánchez Stadium, where the proximity of the fans always amplifies the feeling of support from the stands. In that hotbed of emotions, the Buenos Aires native ground out a win in one of the toughest matches of the tournament. Far from being intimidated by his big-hitting opponent, Cerúndolo grew in the face of adversity.

“I’m really tired, I ran a lot today… I hit some incredible shots with a lot of power”, said Cerúndolo. “I’m happy about what I did today, it was a really tough match. I was never in control, I had to dig deep and keep fighting”.

The Argentine stopped one of the hottest players of the moment, ending Mensik’s run of nine consecutive wins at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. The Czech claimed the biggest trophy of his career in Miami in March, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final.

Cerúndolo is now presented with a huge opportunity. He will be playing the second ATP Masters 1000 semifinal of his career after reaching the penultimate round at Miami in 2022. The South American will now be able to draw on those memories.

“At that Masters 1000 in 2022 I don’t think I was even in the Top 100”, he explained. “It was the first big tournament I did well in. I’d played very few ATP matches, very few matches against the best in the world. Now it’s been over three years since that tournament and I’ve grown so much in terms of experience, tennis and learnings”.

The Argentine arrives at the Madrid semifinal as a player who demands respect, with none of the youthfulness that defined him three seasons back on the courts of Florida. The Caja Magica is witnessing a player who is now inside the Top 20, has multiple ATP Tour titles on clay and reached the second week of the French Open in the last two seasons. “I’m a completely different player and person. Now I’m back in the same round and I can’t wait to play it”.

Cerúndolo’s win also served as a message to the rest of the locker room, who are seeing a player who is becoming increasingly au fait with victory. The Argentine is now one of the players with the most wins this season (24) alongside Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur, neither of whom are still in the competition on the Madrid clay.

Now, the final obstacle on his road to the title bout will be a highly-demanding clay-tennis match. Cerúndolo will play his Mutua Madrid Open semifinal against 14th seed Casper Ruud, a two-time French Open runner-up. The Norwegian beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 in the day’s first match in the Manolo Santana Stadium. The South American leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head 5-3 although they are all square for their encounters on clay (2-2).

The Argentine also earned himself an added bonus by reaching the last four in the Caja Magica; Cerúndolo now sits at No. 18 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will occupy his highest career position come Monday.