Francisco Cerúndolo’s message after the tough defeat at the Argentine Open: “When you start to lose a little…”

Without pace and confidence, the country’s best tennis player’s time at the Argentina Open was short-lived. Francisco Cerúndolo (22nd in the world and 2nd seed) fell on his tournament debut against another Argentine, Facundo Díaz Acosta.

It was 7-6 and 6-0 for the Pan American champion in Santiago de Chile and who just reached the quarterfinals in Córdoba. On the other side there is Cerúndolo, who has not yet rediscovered his best level and consistency that led him to break the barrier of the top 20 last year (today he is 22nd).

After the hard defeat in a tournament in which he arrived in Buenos Aires last year, Cerúndolo showed his frustration for the first time on the central court of Lawn Tennis where he broke a racket slamming him into the floor.

And then he expressed himself on his X account. “Very difficult moment, very sad. I want to thank everyone who supports me and continues to push me to move forward.”

And then he added: “Because in the good moments everyone is there, but when you start to lose a little it seems like not. Keep working.”

Without clarifying who the message is aimed at, “losing a little” points to the bad start to the year for Cerúndolo. He has two wins and five losses. His only victory on the circuit was in the first round of the Australian Open against local Dane Sweeny and then lost to Hungarian Fabian Marozsan.

Before the first Slam of the year he had accumulated two debut defeats in Hong Kong and Auckland. And for the ATP tournaments, another fall on his first step in the Córdoba tournament.

Before the tournament in the Mediterranean province he had been part of the Argentina Davis Cup team that achieved a heartbreaking victory against Kazakhstan in Rosario. There Cerúndolo contributed with a win and a fall.