Cerúndolo fights back in marathon Queen's final

All week at the Queen’s Club, Francisco Cerúndolo had an unlikely guest in his players’ box: the No 10 Argentina shirt of Diego Maradona. And on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Hand of God, Cerúndolo summoned tennis from the heavens to lift the biggest trophy of his career.

- Sean Ingle

But after fending off the American Tommy Paul 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 in an epic that lasted a record three hours and two minutes, Cerúndolo said he had been inspired by another of his heroes: his father, Alejandro, who had flown to London to see him win.

“It is the first time my dad takes a flight and it’s the first time he has watched me outside Argentina,” he said. “I want to congratulate my dad for taking a plane. It’s Father’s Day, so this is for him.”

Cerúndolo had to do things the hard way. He was a set and a break down against Paul before coming back to take the longest Queen’s Club final in history, beating the previous record of two hours and 57 minutes set by Marin Cilic and Novak Djokovic in 2018.