Day three at Roland Garros proved a challenging fixture for Argentine tennis players in Paris. Another six made their debut as the first round drew to close, with Tomás Etcheverry (29th ATP singles ranked) and Mariano Navone (31) progressing while Federico Coria (71), Román Burruchaga (144), Lourdes Carlé (82nd WTA singles ranked), and Nadia Podoroska (59) said goodbye to the Parisian crowds.
Etcheverry was the first to take to the court, as he faced French youngster Arthur Cazaux (77). The Argentine, who’s fresh off reaching his third ATP tour final at Lyon last week, had a bumpy start, falling in the first set. He recovered to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 and 6-4 in three hours and 26 minutes of play to reach the second round. He’ll now face another Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech (69), on Thursday.
It was an even bigger result for Navone, who made tennis history by becoming the first open era player to debut in a Grand Slam as a seeded player. After a hard-fought first set, he comfortably beat former world number ten Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta by 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 and 6-0 in two hours and 52 minutes. On Thursday, he’ll take on Czech Tomas Machac (34) in the second round.
For his part, Coria won the first set against U.S. player Taylor Fritz (12) but couldn’t hold on, eventually falling 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-1. Burruchaga, another player making their Roland Garros debut after coming through the qualification, couldn’t make it past German Jan-Leonard Struff (41) and lost 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1.
The losses of Lourdes Carlé — who fell 6-3 and 7-6 to Belgian Elise Mertens (27) — and Podoroska — she lost 6-1 and 6-0 to two-time Grand Slam winner Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (21) — means there are no longer any Argentine representatives in the women’s singles draw after Julia Riera’s defeat on Tuesday.