Francisco Cerúndolo will be the sole Argentine representative in the 2025 Australian Open third round. He benefited from an ankle injury to rival and countryman Facundo Diaz Acosta, while Tomás Etcheverry — the only other Argentine to make it into the second round —  fell to U.S. player Marcos Giron.

The duel of the Argentines lasted just 40 minutes. Díaz Acosta (73rd in the ATP singles ranking) showed mobility problems early on, and Cerúndolo (31) won five consecutive games to take the first set 6-2. Despite receiving medical attention for issues on his left ankle during the break, the 2024 Argentina Open winner was unable to keep playing and retired from the match after just one game in the second set.

“It’s a shame it played out this way,” Cerúndolo told ESPN after the game. “[Díaz Acosta] is a big friend on the tour, I appreciate him and his team a lot. It’s a shame to have won it like this.”

This is the second time the former top-20 player reaches the third round at the Australian Open, matching his 2023 result. Cerúndolo achieved his best result at a Grand Slam at Roland Garros, reaching the round of 16 in 2023 and ‘24.

His next opponent will be home favorite Alex de Minaur (8) who beat Tristan Boyer (136) by 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

Etcheverry (38) had the chance to join his countryman, but ultimately fell to Giron (46) by 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Coming into the fifth set of a tightly contested game, the Argentine player led 4-2 before dropping four games in a row to lose the game. He failed to repeat his 2024 performance when he reached the third round and lost to Novak Djokovic.

Argentina will also miss its best representative in the men’s doubles draw, as former world number one Horacio Zeballos retired due to an injury to regular partner Marcel Granollers from Spain.