Argentina, the 2016 Davis Cup champions, have been stunned by South Korea in the first round of qualifying for the 2026 event.
The Argentines, who won their first title in 2016 with Juan Martin del Potro at the helm, lost 3-2 to South Korea in Seoul.
Thiago Agustin Tirante secured the first point for Argentina before Soonwoo Kwon levelled the tie. Guido Andreozzi and Federico Agustin Gomez then won the doubles match, giving Argentina a 2-1 lead.
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The Koreans stormed back to claim victory, with Chung defeating Marco Trungelliti in the deciding rubber.
Notably, Francisco Cerundolo – the world number 19 – did not represent Argentina at the event.
Ahead of the contest, Cerundolo explained the reason for his absence while also responding to those who have criticised his absence.
Francisco Cerundolo says his Davis Cup absence was a scheduling issue
“Everyone can criticise, give their opinion or support me,” Cerundolo said on a BA Tennis podcast. “Whatever it is. From my side, I’m calm because I’ve played in every Davis Cup call-up since they first called me; except for one because I was injured.
“This one just didn’t fit. I did well in Australia, I had very little time back before Buenos Aires, I also didn’t want to stay 10 days training in Korea, I wanted to prepare this tour and it just didn’t work out.
“I would have loved for it to be somewhere else in the world and be able to play it. Whoever wants to criticize me, let them criticize me.
“Whoever doesn’t want to criticize me, I support them. Thanks. That’s how it is. If you’re the No. 1 in Argentina, people are going to talk about anything you do. They’re going to criticize me or support me
“If they want me in the next tie, I’ll be very willing. I’ve heard people say ‘because Fran didn’t go, don’t call him again…’ If they don’t want me, that’s fine.
“It’s very difficult to play every single tie throughout your entire career. I love playing Davis Cup for Argentina, it’s experienced in a completely different way from everything else, but sometimes things just don’t line up.”
Cerundolo is far from the only player absent from Davis Cup competition this year. Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Alex de Minaur as are absent from the first stage of qualifying.
- Match One: Thiago Agustin Tirante defeats Hyeon Chung 2-6, 7-5, 7-6
- Match Two: Soonwoo Kwon defeats Marco Trungelliti 7-6, 6-2
- Match Three: Guido Andreozzi and Federico Agustin Gomez defeat Jisung Nam and Uisung Park 6-3, 7-5
- Match Four: Soonwoo Kwon defeats Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
- Match Five: Hyeon Chung defeats Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 6-3
With so many star players prioritsing Tour events over the Davis cup, the ATP Tour may need to make a change in order to best accomodate tennis’ greatest men’s team competition.
Cerundolo dreams of winning the Buenos Aires Open
Cerundolo’s next event is set to be the Buenos Aires Open, where he has twice been the finalist.
Cerundolo, the top seed, has received a first-round bye. The Argentine will face Damir Dzumhur or a qualifier in the second round.
In a roundtable discussion with Casper Ruud and Alex de Minaur, Cerundolo recently expressed his desire to win the title in Buenos Aires.
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As per the UTS Tour, he said: “To win in Buenos Aires for me. I lost two finals: against Fonseca, and Schwartzman when I was young. One of my first ATP [events.]
“So I have to go one more step from the finals.”
In 2021, Cerundolo was defeated by Diego Schwartzman in the final. He again reached the final in 2025, but lost to Joao Fonseca, 6-4, 7-6.
