18th-seeded Francisco Cerúndolo will look to get his 2026 Australian Open campaign underway with a first-round match against Zhang Zhizhen. Being one of the Top 20 seeds, Cerúndolo will be keen to get his tournament off to a smooth start, whereas Zhang will look to secure a statement win, as the Chinese player is coming back from an injury layoff last year.
Francisco Cerúndolo vs Zhang Zhizhen Match Details
Date: Jan. 18, 2026
Tournament: Australian Open 2026
Round: First Round (Round of 128)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Category: Grand Slam
Live Telecast: Tennis Channel, TSN, RDS, Sky Sports
Cerúndolo vs Zhang Head-to-Head
Cerúndolo and Zhang have played each other only once before, with the Argentine winning 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinal of the 2023 Eastbourne International.
Cerúndolo began his 2026 season at the Adelaide International, where he got a bye in the first round as he was a seeded player. However, the Argentine’s 2026 got off to a rocky start, as he lost his first match of the season 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 against Jaume Munar in the second round.
On the other hand, Zhang began his season at the United Cup, where he played two matches. While the Chinese player started with a win, winning 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-5 against Zizou Bergs, he lost in the next round, losing 4-6, 4-6 against Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Cerúndolo vs Zhang Prediction
Cerúndolo had a 60 percent win rate on hard courts last year, with his best results being consecutive quarterfinal finishes at the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz and Grigor Dimitrov, respectively.
Zhang played a limited schedule last year due to injury and had only four wins in the whole season. He only had two wins on outdoor hard courts last year, one against Thiago Monteiro at the United Cup and another one against Yunchaokete Bu at the Hangzhou Open.
Overall, Cerúndolo has yet to reach a hard-court final in his career, with all of his six career finals coming on natural surfaces, five of which are on clay. One of his most prominent hard-court runs was reaching the semifinal of the 2022 Miami Open, where he lost to Casper Ruud. On the other hand, Zhang has reached one hard-court final in his career at the 2024 Hangzhou Open, where he lost to former US Open champion Marin Čilić.
Cerúndolo is a better clay-court player, but the Argentine has shown glimpses of what he can do on hard courts on previous occasions. Also, he has a positive head-to-head record against Zhang and has the experience of playing in the latter stages of a Slam, making him the slight favorite in the upcoming match.
Pick– Cerúndolo to win in four sets.
