Francisco Cerundolo’s fast-rising form hit a major slowdown during the closing stages of the European clay swing, and since then he has suffered several narrow defeats. Unfortunately, his Asian swing started in similar fashion, as he lost from a set up to Learner Tien in the opening round in Beijing.
The Argentine No. 1 is making his third consecutive appearance at the Shanghai Masters in an effort to revive his form. He reached the round of 16 on his debut in 2023 but suffered a disappointing first-round upset to Alexander Shevchenko last year.
While Cerundolo’s consistency has been questioned due to poor form in recent months, he has still managed to deliver solid results at Masters level in 2025, particularly on hard courts. He reached the quarterfinals in both Miami and Indian Wells and made it to the round of 16 in Cincinnati before retiring.
In contrast to Francisco Cerundolo, Adrian Mannarino had a lifeless first half of the season but has completely turned things around since the start of the grass swing. He is now traveling with plenty of momentum and form. Continuing this upswing, he secured an impressive straight-sets victory in the first round at the Shanghai Masters, defeating a struggling Matteo Berrettini.
In his previous seven appearances at the Shanghai Masters, Mannarino managed to advance past the opening round only once, during his highly successful 2023 season. As a seeded player, he received a first-round bye and went on to reach the third round after defeating Chun-Hsin Tseng.
Head-to-Head: 0-0. Francisco Cerundolo is generally a reliable and consistent performer, but recent drops in form and fitness have affected his level. Coupled with Adrian Mannarino’s excellent current form, this matchup looks much closer to a 50-50 contest.
