Latin America’s singles challenge at the 2026 US Open has faded, but the region still has several legitimate shots at a Grand Slam title as doubles takes center stage at Flushing Meadows. Brazil’s Luisa Stefani, El Salvador’s Marcelo Arévalo and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos headline the Latin American players still alive as the tournament moves deeper into its second week.
Stefani has the most immediate opportunity as the Brazilian and Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski seeded No. 2 in the women’s doubles draw, advanced to Tuesday’s quarterfinals after defeating Japan’s Eri Hozumi and Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac on Monday. Their next test comes against seventh-seeded Chinese pair Jiang Xinyu and Zhang Shuai, with a place in the semifinals at stake.
For Stefani, another deep run in New York has become almost routine. She has reached at least the quarterfinals in each of her six US Open appearances and is trying to make the semifinals for the third time. The 29-year-old reached that stage with Dabrowski in 2021 and again with American Jennifer Brady in 2023.
This season has been particularly strong for Stefani and Dabrowski. The pair reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open before finishing runner-up at Wimbledon. They have also won three titles in 2026 and have already secured a place at the season-ending WTA Finals.
Stefani is not Brazil’s only doubles player to make an impact on the international circuit, but with the country’s singles hopes already gone in New York, she has become its most prominent remaining representative at the final Grand Slam of the year. El Salvador also has a major contender in Arévalo.
The Salvadoran and Croatian partner Mate Pavić, seeded third, advanced to the third round of the men’s doubles tournament and will face Lucas Miedler of Austria and Marc Polmans of Australia. Arévalo has already built one of the most important tennis careers in Central American history.
He became the first player from Central America to win a Grand Slam title when he captured the 2022 French Open men’s doubles championship with Jean-Julien Rojer. He later became the first Central American to reach No. 1 in the ATP doubles rankings.
His partnership with Pavić has kept him near the top of the doubles game. The pair reached the Wimbledon final earlier this summer before losing to Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten. Argentina, meanwhile, is guaranteed to have representation in the next stage of the men’s doubles draw.
Veterans Máximo González and Andrés Molteni face second seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Argentina’s Zeballos in an all-South American-heavy third-round matchup Tuesday. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals. That doubles presence comes after Argentina’s singles campaign ended Monday.
Francisco Cerúndolo, who produced one of the tournament’s biggest upsets by coming back from two sets down to eliminate American Taylor Fritz in the third round, fell to Belgium’s Alexander Blockx in the round of 16. Tomás Martín Etcheverry was also eliminated in the fourth round, losing to American Alex Michelsen.
Argentina began the men’s singles tournament with 11 players in the field, but none reached the quarterfinals. The shift toward doubles gives Latin American tennis another route into the closing weekend in New York. Stefani is already one victory from the women’s doubles semifinals. Arévalo remains a proven Grand Slam champion with another title within reach, while the González-Molteni and Granollers-Zeballos matchup guarantees at least one Argentine will move deeper into the men’s doubles tournament.
And the timing is fitting as Tuesday is the US Open’s annual Hispanic Heritage celebration, when the tournament recognizes Hispanic and Latin American players and their influence on the sport. For Latin American tennis, the singles draws may have closed. The chase for a US Open trophy has not.
