Francisco Cerundolo claimed the biggest title win of his career at the HSBC Championships on Sunday. He recorded a hard-fought 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tommy Paul in the final to lift his first-ever ATP 500 title. The occasion was extra special for him as his parents witnessed the victory from the stands. Turns out that this was the first time that Cerundolo’s father had seen him play abroad.

His father, Alejandro Cerundolo had avoided long-haul flights for the past 36 years. This was because he had developed a severe fear of flying after the 1972 Andes tragedy where a plane carrying the Uruguayan rugby team crashed into the Andes mountains. The fear was only amplified after he had multiple traumatic level experiences in flights as a coach. However, he built up the courage to overcome his fears in order to watch his son play the final at Queen’s. Cerundolo was well aware about this and dedicated the win to his father.

“It’s the first time my dad takes a flight and the first time he came to watch me outside Argentina, so I want to congratulate my dad for taking a plane and coming here,” he said during his post-match interview. “It’s Father’s Day in Argentina, so this is for you.”

This was Cerundolo’s fifth tour-level title victory and his first in an event above ATP 250 level. Though the Argentine is known to be quite a strong player on clay, he has proved that he can be equally good on grass and has now clinched two titles on the surface.

Cerundolo put in a superb performance against Paul in the final. The American appeared to be cruising towards the victory after he had won the first set and was a break up in the second. However, Cerundolo refused to give up and completed a stunning comeback to take the second set and drag the match into a decider.

He continued the momentum in the third set and raced to a 5-2 lead. Paul saved three match points on his serve in the eighth game, but he was only delaying the inevitable. Cerundolo held his serve in the next game to win the match after three hours and two minutes. This victory saw him become the first Argentine to lift the coveted title and also bring an end to Paul’s nine-match winning streak in the event.

This victory pretty much summed up Cerundolo’s campaign at the HSBC Championships. He had picked up a grueling 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Aleksander Kovacevic in the first round before defeating Jenson Brooksby 6-0, 6-4. Cerundolo would then have a seriously tough match against Arthur Fery in the quarterfinals, where he eventually won 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.

The semifinal also proved to be pretty similar as Brandon Nakashima took the match down to the wire. But Cerundolo would triumph 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the arduous battle. Having already played multiple three-set matches on his way to the final, the 27-year-old didn’t lose his composure when Paul won the first set in the final. He bounced back brilliantly in the next two sets and went on to complete a remarkable comeback.

His parents appeared to be pretty emotional in the stands following the victory. It was quite a memorable week for the whole family, but especially for his father. This wasn’t just because he watched his son claim the biggest title of his career, but also because he finally conquered his fear of flights after years of trying.

How Francisco Cerundolo helped his father in overcoming his fear of flying?

Over the past few years, Alejandro had tried various different methods to overthrow his fear. He took courses, talked to psychologists and even decided to take short flight to Sao Paulo for a tennis clinic. However, he still wasn’t confident about travelling in long flights.

Alejandro wanted to see both Francisco and his brother, Juan Manuel Cerundolo in action at the French Open last month. But he wasn’t able to make up his mind to travel to Paris and decided to stay at home.

However, he couldn’t control himself seeing Francisco go on a winning run at the Queen’s Club, a place that he had never visited before. Alejandro finally made up the courage and got on the long flight from Buenos Aires to London. It won’t be wrong to say that Francisco played a big role in his father overcoming his fear of long flights.

It remains to be seen if Alejandro will be present in the stands once again as Francisco participates at the Eastbourne Open. He is scheduled to play his first-round match on Wednesday.