In Melbourne, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, began with its qualifying matches. Argentine tennis players Facundo Díaz Acosta and Alex Barrena were eliminated from the competition. Díaz Acosta, a 25-year-old player from Buenos Aires province, lost to the experienced Serbian Dusan Lajovic in a hard-fought match that ended 7:7(7), 6:3, 5:7, 6:3 in favor of the European. This was the first defeat for Díaz Acosta against Lajovic, after he had previously beaten him in the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open 2024. Meanwhile, Alex Barrena lost to American Tristan Boyer with a score of 6:2, 6:4(7), 6:2. For Barrena, this was also the first defeat against this rival, following his victory in the first round of the Uruguay Open last year. Thus, only three Argentine tennis players remain in the men's qualifiers: Marco Trungelliti, Román Burruchaga, and Juan Pablo Ficovich. Genaro Olivieri was eliminated by Croatian Dino Prizmic. In the women's qualifiers, Argentine tennis player Jazmín Ortenzi staged a comeback, defeating Frenchwoman Alice Ramey with a score of 5:7, 6:3, 6:4. "This defeat to Lajovic was the first for Díaz Acosta against this rival, after having beaten him in their only encounter in the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open 2024. In another close match, Alex Barrena lost to the 24-year-old American Tristan Boyer with a score of 6-2, 6(4)-7(7) and 6-2. Like Díaz Acosta with Lajovic, this was the first defeat for Barrena against this rival, after what was the victory in the first round of the Uruguay Open last year."
