Argentine tennis is now without any representatives at the US Open singles draws, following the defeat of top-ranked national player Francisco Cerúndolo (19 ATP singles ranked).

Cerúndolo relinquished a two sets advantage over Swiss player Leandro Riedi (435), falling 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in just over three and a half hours of play.

It was supposed to be an easy path into the third round for the Argentine. Having narrowly survived a two set deficit of his own in his debut against Italian Matteo Arnaldi, Cerúndolo looked poised to recover his earlier year form, when he reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells and Miami and semis at Madrid.

However, sitting at two sets up and 2-0 in the third set, it all came crashing down for the Argentine, who began struggling with accuracy at the same time Riedi seemed to find an extra gear.

The Swiss player didn’t even lose focus when he was harassed by a man he claimed had previously threatened him over gambling losses.

In the middle of the fourth set, Riedi lost his serve and received several insults from a man who was eventually removed from the stadium.

“He’s gambling! Every time I lose he texts me wishing my mother dies, throw him out!,” he said. The man was taken out of the stands by security staff at the behest of the umpire.

The loss wraps up a disappointing season in the majors for Cerúndolo: he failed to reach the fourth round in all four tournaments, something he hasn’t experienced since 2022.

The top-ranked Argentine entered Thursday as the sole national representative in the men’s singles draw, after countrymen Tomás Etcheverry and Francisco Comesaña were ousted the previous day. Etcheverry fell to Czech Jiri Lehecka 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2, while Comesaña fought hard but eventually lost Britain’s Cameron Norrie 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-7 (0-7), and 7-6 (7-4).

In the women’s singles, top-ranked Argentine Solana Sierra, the only player to gain direct entry to the draw, fell 7-5, 6-0 to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Tuesday.

Four Argentines are set to compete in the men’s doubles draw, including former world No. 1 Horacio Zeballos and Argentine duo Andrés Molteni and Máximo González, with matches scheduled to start on Friday.