Argentine tennis player Francisco Cerúndolo (18th) fell in three sets to German Alexander Zverev (3rd) and was eliminated from the Australian Open 2026. Cerúndolo, who currently holds the ATP ranking number 21, lost 2-6, 4-6, and 4-6 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 12 minutes, as reported by the Argentine News Agency. In a Melbourne Arena filled with Argentines supporting the player from Buenos Aires province, Cerúndolo generated enthusiasm and hope by winning the first game of each set. However, Zverev's hierarchy weighed heavily, and he dominated the match from start to finish. In the first set, the German broke in the fifth game, went up 3-2, and won the set with a commanding 6-2. A similar situation occurred in the second set where Zverev broke in the seventh game, and despite being slightly more competitive than the first, the ATP world number 3 won the set 6-4. With Cerúndolo now desperate to win the set to keep his hopes of winning the match alive, Zverev asserted his hierarchy in the third set, broke again in the seventh game, tied the set at 3-3, and sealed his victory with a 6-4. Thus, the German advanced to the quarterfinals of the first Grand Slam of the year and will face American Learner Tien (25th), who pulled off an upset by defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev (11th) in three sets. Furthermore, with this result, Zverev levels his head-to-head record against Cerúndolo with three wins each. This victory in Australia is Zverev's third consecutive win against the 27-year-old Argentine. Meanwhile, this defeat for the Buenos Aires native at the hands of the German marked the end of the Argentines' campaign in this edition of the Australian Open, following the Saturday defeats of the duo Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Tomás Martín Etcheverry, and that of Horacio Zeballos with the Spaniard Marcel Granollers.
