Cerundolo captured his fourth career title in February, triumphing in his birth city of Buenos Aires. He is 15-6 on the year, having reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open—and has a chance to improve upon his career-high ranking of No. 18 this week.
As for the 48th-ranked Tsitsipas, after briefly dropping out of the Top 50 for two weeks following the BNP Paribas Open, he will exit the Top 60 with this latest defeat. The last time he found himself that low on the rankings was the week of April 23, 2018 when he stood at No. 63.
The Greek had won 22 of 26 matches at the Monte-Carlo Country Club coming in, but has struggled since opening the season by clinching all three of his singles matches at the United Cup. Tsitsipas has since gone 6-8 in tour-level tournaments (he won both matches for his nation in Davis Cup against opponents ranked No. 222 and 818, respectively) with one quarterfinal showing in Doha.
In the second round, Cerundolo awaits the winner of Daniel Altmaier and Tomas Machac.
