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“We were both born with a tennis racket,” joked #NextGenATP star Juan Manuel Serndro, recalling his and brother Francisco Serndro’s first tennis memories.

The Argentinian brothers have inspired each other throughout their young careers to build on their successes. With Juan Manuel sidelined by injury this season, family support has come to the fore.

“My brother and I continue to inspire and learn from each other,” Juan Manuel told ATPTour.com. “I motivate myself by giving advice, ‘If I can do it, so can you.’ His accomplishments this year have inspired me to keep going. I have.”

Last week, Juan Manuel returned to the winners’ circle by winning the Buenos Aires Challenger to claim his first ATP Challenger Tour title of the season (4th overall). In front of an energetic Argentinian crowd, the 20-year-old defeated compatriot Camilougo He Caravelli in the final with his 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 record.

“I didn’t expect to win the tournament,” said Juan Manuel. “It was his second tournament after almost two and a half months and he hadn’t played regularly before. Now he’s winning, he’s healthy, he’s home and playing in front of people. It was really good.I was relieved.

“It’s the best challenger I’ve ever won. The atmosphere was great. Me and Camilo had a lot of people cheering for us. It’s something you don’t see anywhere but your house.”

Argentinian players rallied to win a season-leading 19 Challenger titles. Juan Manuel became his 14th different Argentinian champion this year, tying his 1 record for most different winners in his season on the Challenger Tour (USA in 2006, France in 2011). For the Buenos Aires native, the waiting and hard recovery have paid off.

“2021 has been great for me, so the injury was really frustrating,” said Juan Manuel. “I tore his psoas when I started the ATP.” [located in the lower lumbar region of the spine], which also comes from hip problems. Then I realized my hip was fine. It was tendons and muscles. All the results I got last year disappeared because I couldn’t play. It pissed me off because when I play, he wants to give 100% in every match and I just couldn’t do it. ”

In 2021, Juan Manuel was one of four players to win Tour level and Challenger titles. All three of his Challenger titles (Rome-2, Como and Banja Luka) came after his first breakthrough at the ATP 250 event in Cordoba. ‘Juanma’ qualified en route to making his ATP Tour main draw debut at home. He didn’t stop there.

Ranked 335 in the world at the time, he became the first Argentinian to win the title on his debut and the youngest since Guillermo Coria (19 years and 1 month) won the Viña del Mar in 2001. Argentine champion (19 years, 3 months). The season has booked him a ticket to the 2021 Intesa San Paolo Next ATP Finals in Milan, Italy.

“Cordoba was a dream,” said Juan Manuel. “I was playing in the qualifiers and I was like, ‘If I can win one in the qualifiers, it’s going to be a good tournament! At one point, I was like, “Wow, what’s going on!”

“It was like winning at home that I dreamed of since I was a kid, all my friends and family were there. Looking back now, I learned a lot from that week. It was the beginning of my career. It was like.”

Juan Manuel Serundro wins the title at the 2021 Córdoba Open.” />
Juan Manuel Serndolo wins the title at the 2021 Cordoba Open.Credit: Cordoba Open

This season, the 24-year-old Francisco followed in his brother’s footsteps by winning the ATP 250 event in Båstad, Sweden, in July to claim his first Tour-level title. Juan in 2021 Much like his Manuel accomplishments, Francisco also won his Challenger title (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) in January. This right-hander is one of his six players to win Tour-level and Challenger titles in 2022.

Juan Manuel was gearing up for the Tampere Challenger when Francisco, No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, lifted the trophy in Sweden. He allowed himself to see his younger brother take the championship throne.

“He is [Francisco] He played the final in Båstad and I was training in Finland,” said Juan Manuel. “My coach put TennisTV on between training sessions and I watched all the points I could. It was a really good match and we’re both having a great year.”

Juan Manuel, ranked 148th in the world, is aiming to play a full season in 2023 and is turning his attention to making a consistent run in the year-end South American Challenger Swing. De Janeiro and Coquimbo-2 Challenger.

“I’ve had injuries this year, but now my only goal is to play regularly,” said Juan Manuel. “Playing three tournaments in a row is great for me. Winning regularly and playing as much as possible is more important than rankings or tournaments.”