Cerúndolo reaches US Open third round as Auger-Aliassime is eliminated

Francisco Cerúndolo battled for four hours and finally broke through the second-round barrier that had stopped him at the US Open in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The 25th-ranked Argentine defeated Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in five sets, 5-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The comeback kept Cerúndolo on the path toward a title that no Latin American has won since Juan Martín del Potro defeated Roger Federer in the 2009 final. His reward is a third-round meeting with Taylor Fritz, the world’s 10th-ranked player, who beat Italy’s Mattia Bellucci 6-0, 6-1, 6-1.

Cerúndolo is currently the highest-ranked Latin American player in the tournament. Two other Argentines, Tomás Etcheverry and Mariano Navone, also reached the third round and will compete for places in the last 16.

The draw opened further after Felix Auger-Aliassime, ranked fourth in the world, fell to Karen Khachanov. The Canadian won the first set 7-6, but the Russian responded with four consecutive set wins, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Auger-Aliassime, a US Open semifinalist in 2021 and 2025, has still not reached a Grand Slam final.

Novak Djokovic, ranked fifth, had already gone out in the first round, while world number one Jannik Sinner is absent. Only Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz remain from the top five. In the women’s draw, Amanda Anisimova, Naomi Osaka and defending US Open champion Iga Świątek also advanced.

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