Day two at the 2025 Argentina Open featured a strong presence of Argentine players, who took to the court in intermitent shifts as overnight showers in Buenos Aires continued throughout the day and caused significant delays. 

The biggest match of the day ended up being the debut of top-ranked Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo (28 ATP singles ranking) against Argentine-Italian Luciano Darderi (59). 

Cerúndolo, a tournament finalist in 2021, was looking to improve on his disappointing performance last year, when he bowed out in the round of 16. He took an early advantage with two breaks to make it 5-2, using his forehand to go on the offensive.

Darderi found his footing late in the first set, recovering to 4-5, but Cerúndolo served out the set 6-4.

The game suffered a rain delay at that point that halted action on all courts for several hours. In order to keep things moving, organizers announced that day two’s night session matches would be moved to Wednesday morning.

The players returned to the court for the second set at 10 p.m. Cerúndolo once again raced to an early lead, breaking Darderi’s serve at 2-1. The match remained a high-intensity affair with plenty of hard-fought points. And although the Italian managed to keep the match on a shorter leash this time around, Cerúndole was able to keep his serve to wrap things up 6-4, 6-4.

Over on court two, his brother Juan Manuel (141) battled for over three hours with countryman Román Burruchaga (139), son of 1986 World Cup winner Jorge. The match, which also suffered long delays, proved an emotional rollercoaster for Cerúndolo: up one set and set to serve 4-1 in the second, he ended having to fight harder than expected to eventually win 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-5.

With their two wins, the siblings made tournament history as they will now face off against each other for a spot in the quarterfinals, the first time this has ever happened at the Argentina Open. 

“I’m not sure how many families can say two brothers have played a round of 16 at their home ATP tournament,” Francisco, the eldest of the two, wrote in a post on X. “Whatever happens tomorrow, we all win. It’ll be an honor to play in the Lawn Tennis’ night shift [against Juan Manuel]. Let’s enjoy it!”

The brothers come from a sporting family. Their father Alejandro also played pro tennis, while their sister Constanza played for the Argentine field hockey team that won a gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics.

They’re set to wrap up action on Wednesday, as the last game on central court.

Earlier on Tuesday, before storms put a stop to play, Sebastián Báez (31) faced off against Camilo Ugo Carabelli (87).

Despite a disappointing quarterfinal loss in the 2024 tournament to Federico Coria, Báez is defending a big chunk of points in the upcoming weeks. He first broke inside the top 20 in March 2024, after winning back-to-back ATP Tour titles in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago.

On paper, the slowing down of the courts due to the heavy rains would stand to benefit a defensive player like Báez. Instead, it made it harder for him to surpass Carabelli, a more aggressive player who was afforded extra time to adjust. Carabelli broke Baéz’s serve in the first game of the match and then pushed on to take an early lead.

An erratic game by Carabelli helped Báez back into the game at 3-2, but he continued to depend on his rival’s hot and cold streaks. He kept the result short and then took advantage of a bad serving game by Carabelli to wrap up the first set 6-4.

It was a very similar story in the second set, with players holding on to their serve and struggling to make a dent in their opponents defense. The chance finally came for Báez in the last game of the set. With Carabelli’s back giving him problems, the world number 31 pushed and got an easy break to seal the game 6-4, 6-4. 

He’ll now go up against Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild.

Cover photo: Francisco Cerúndolo. Credit: Argentina Open 2025