Zachary Svajda dedicated his French Open victory over Francisco Cerundolo to his late father, after reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. The unseeded American’s victory came on what would have been his father’s 61st birthday.
The 23-year-old, who led by two sets to love, was taken to a decider by the Argentine 25th seed. Svajda fought back from being broken in the third game of the fifth set to win 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 in a little over three hours.
Svajda, making his debut in the main draw at Roland Garros, was visibly emotional after completing the win, dropping on to the clay before pointing to the sky.
A Victory Inspired by His Father
Svajda’s father, Tom, a tennis coach in San Diego, was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and passed away in October.
“It’s like I’m dreaming right now. It’s crazy,” said Svajda, who will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli for a spot in the quarter-finals.
“Today was so special because it’s my dad’s birthday. I was thinking of that. I was nervous. I know he’s proud of me, and I wanted to perform well and win.”
He added: “When I got that last point, I just teared up and fell to the ground like, ‘oh my gosh, what is happening?'”.
On the advice from his dad which helped inspire him to victory, he told TNT Sports: “Every time I step on court, just enjoy it and believe in yourself. Knowing that I can beat anyone on any given day. I thought about that today going on court and it’s incredible.”
Svajda’s Journey to the Fourth Round
Prior to this year, Svajda had only won two Grand Slam matches, both at the US Open. The second, which he achieved last August after coming through qualifying, set up a meeting with Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Five months later, in his first tournament since his dad’s passing, he came through qualifying once again to make his main-draw bow at the Australian Open.
As the world number 85, he qualified automatically for Roland Garros, but arrived in Paris with just one ATP Tour-level win on clay in 2026. He has battled past Alexei Popyrin and Adam Walton in four sets before upsetting Cerundolo to rise to 59th in the live rankings.
“The first time I played on a red clay court was probably two years ago, when I was 21. I played some green clay back in the US, but not until I was 19,” Svajda said.
“I probably played 10 or 15 matches on clay my whole career. It’s still new to me.
Five-Set Thrillers at Roland Garros
Svajda’s match was one of nine men’s singles third-round ties to go to five sets. This broke the Open era record of seven.
He is joined in the last 16 by fellow American Frances Tiafoe, who also needed five sets to beat Jaime Faria, but compatriot Brandon Nakashima lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in four. The Canadian is one of only three top-10 seeds left in the draw.
No-one is more surprised than him.