Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, the Argentine who electrified Roland Garros by knocking out world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, saw his breakthrough run ended Monday by Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(6) — part of a difficult day for Latin American tennis in Paris that also saw Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo bow out of both the singles and doubles draws. One regional hope remains, however: Brazil’s João Fonseca is into the quarterfinals.
Cerúndolo, the World No. 56, had earned consecutive five-set wins over Sinner and Spain’s Martín Landaluce to reach the fourth round, but could not back them up against Berrettini on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. His upset of Sinner in the second round — a comeback from two sets down that made him the lowest-ranked player to beat a reigning World No. 1 at Roland Garros since 1998 — had been the shock of the tournament. Berrettini, the World No. 105 playing his first Roland Garros since 2021, reached his first major quarterfinal since the 2022 Australian Open.
For Tabilo, Monday brought a double disappointment. The 29-year-old Chilean, playing the first Grand Slam round of 16 of his career on his Roland Garros debut, was beaten by fourth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Hours earlier, he and Mexican partner Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela had also exited the men’s doubles, falling in the round of 16 to 10th seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and France’s Édouard Roger-Vasselin, 7-6(9-7), 6-2.
The exits leave Fonseca carrying Latin America’s banner alone. The 19-year-old Brazilian reached the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career on Sunday, becoming the first Brazilian man to reach the Roland Garros last eight since Gustavo Kuerten in 2004. Fonseca beat two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-6(8), 5-7, 6-2 — just 48 hours after a five-set comeback from two sets down to eliminate 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic.
Fonseca, the 28th seed, faces 26th-seeded Jakub Mensik on Tuesday for a place in the semifinals. The match will air across Latin America on ESPN and Disney+, with the men’s final set for June 7.
