Cerundolo vs Blockx Prediction 7 September 2026
🔊 Francisco Cerundolo and Alexander Blockx meet in the fourth round of the US Open having arrived at this stage with notably different amounts of court time behind them. The Argentine spent almost ten hours on court across his first three rounds, while the Belgian spent around two and a half hours less. That gap comes entirely from Cerundolo's last two matches, both of which went to five sets. Neither player has previously gone beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam.
Head-to-Head
📊 Cerundolo and Blockx have met once, in Madrid this season. Blockx won 7-6(8) 6-2, taking the first set in a tie-break. That match was played on clay.
Francisco Cerundolo Player Overview
The Argentine beat Filip Mizolich (6-4, 6-3, 7-5), Jan-Lennard Struff (5-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3) and Taylor Fritz (3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4). The match against Struff lasted 234 minutes; the one against Fritz lasted 220, and he came back from two sets down. This season he has two titles: Buenos Aires on clay and Queen's on grass, where he beat Tommy Paul in the final.
Cerundolo's serve is modest: a 5% ace rate on hard courts with 75% of service games held. His return game has been effective. Over three rounds he earned 50 break points, 19 of them against Fritz, who gives up one service game in every nine throughout the season. In that match Fritz landed his first serve in 54% of points, against his seasonal average of 66%.
Match Results: Francisco Cerundolo
Alexander Blockx Player Overview
Blockx reached this stage by beating Tomas Barrios Vera (6-3 6-4 6-2), Marco Trungelliti (6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1) and Flavio Cobolli (6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 6-3). Against Cobolli he hit 17 aces, converted 8 of 21 break points and won 136-91 points on the board, despite losing to the same opponent in Cincinnati a month earlier. This season he has reached the final in Estoril and the semi-final in Madrid.
His serve is the stronger of the two: a 10% ace rate on hard courts and an 85% hold rate. His return game is weaker, with a break rate of 20%. Blockx is 21 years old, and this is his first fourth round at a Grand Slam - before this week he had never won more than one match at a major.
Match Results: Alexander Blockx
Key factors
- Cerundolo has played 11 five-set matches in his career; Blockx has played none.
- Cerundolo earned 50 break points across three rounds.
- Blockx holds serve in 85% of service games; Cerundolo in 75%.
- The Argentine has spent 598 minutes on court at this tournament; the Belgian 437.
- Their only previous meeting went to Blockx.
Expected scenario
The opening will almost certainly be dominated by Blockx's serve. In the third set against Cobolli he won six games in a row, and across that match he dropped just 13 games out of 37. When the Belgian is landing his first serve, holding is difficult for anyone, and Cerundolo's return game is unlikely to change that quickly.
Beyond that, it becomes a question of endurance. The Argentine rarely finishes early, but twice in the past year he has won matches after dropping the first two sets - and both times it happened in New York. Blockx has not been tested that way: his longest match at the tournament lasted 165 minutes, while Cerundolo has two matches of 220 minutes or more.
Total Games Prediction
The match length is worth considering separately. Blockx's serve against Cerundolo's return tends to produce extended games with plenty of break points, and Cerundolo almost never finishes quickly: his last two matches produced 51 and 48 games respectively. The prediction points towards an above-average number of sets and games.
⭐ Editor's Prediction
The case for Cerundolo rests on a pattern, not on the opponent's name. 50 break points in three rounds show his return game functions against higher-quality serves too: Fritz holds 89% of his service games on hard courts, yet conceded his serve six times across five sets. Blockx's serve is weaker than Fritz's across every metric.
The second argument is experience. The Argentine knows what a fifth set looks like: he has played 11 such matches in the past year and won two of them after losing the first two sets. The Belgian, at 21, has never played a fifth set. When the sets are level, the advantage tends to shift to whoever has been in that situation before.
Pick: Francisco Cerundolo to Win
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Betting Tips: Francisco Cerundolo - Alexander Blockx
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