\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t It won\u2019t be an all-Argentine final at the 2026 Argentina Open, as many expected during the last days. At least not entirely. Top-ranked Argentine Francisco Cer\u00fandolo (ATP singles ranked 19) will face off against Argentine-born Italian Luciano Darderi (22) in the decider, after both won their respective semifinal matchups.<\/p>\n
Action at the Guillermo Vilas Center Court opened up on Saturday with the Argentine duel between Cer\u00fandolo and Tom\u00e1s Etcheverry (54). The 2025 finalist ensured he\u2019ll have another take at the title, taking a 6-3, 7-5 win.<\/p>\n
It was an even-fought match throughout the 1 hour and 51 minutes. With windy conditions forcing players to constantly adapt their games, both had to be solid from the baseline, and the duel was decided in the details. Cer\u00fandolo showcased his class, taking over points at key moments with his forehand, against an Etcheverry who struggled to impose himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be a tough match,\u201d Cer\u00fandolo said at the press conference afterwards. \u201cIt was a semifinal, going up against a lifelong friend, at Buenos Aires, in a full stadium.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The top-ranked Argentine said he was \u201chappy with [his] performance,\u201d which he called his \u201cmost consistent of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time [Etcheverry and he] faced each other was when we were eight. We\u2019ve played a thousand times, trained together, and travelled together. We know each other from tip to toe, so it was a very well-known match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third time It\u2019ll be the third time Cer\u00fandolo makes the Argentina Open final, having previously lost the 2021 and 2025 finals, first against Diego Schwartzman and last year against Joao Fonseca, but he insisted he only sees Sunday\u2019s final as \u201canother chance to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I got there, I was very inexperienced. It was my second ever ATP Tour-level tournament, my first final, and [Schwartzman] was eight or nine in the world, so he steamed past me,\u201d Cer\u00fandolo said. \u201cLast year it was a much tighter affair, where [Fonseca] simply played better than me; he was very aggressive and hit his shots. I\u2019ve worked all week to get to this final on Sunday and have another chance to win the title at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The semifinals were the first set of games to feature professional men\u2019s tennis governing body ATP president Andrea Gaudenzi among the crowd. His visit to Buenos Aires and Rio comes at a crucial time, as the ATP has recently announced a Masters 1000 tournament, the second-highest level of tournaments, to be played in February in Saudi Arabia from 2028, something that would put at risk the viability of the South American tournaments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great he\u2019s visiting,\u201d said Cer\u00fandolo. \u201cThat he sees the spectacle during the weekend, with lots of fans and great matches. The atmosphere of the games here in Argentina, in South America, is unique in the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cer\u00fandolo said it\u2019d be \u201cfundamental\u201d for the South American swing and the region in general to get the ATP\u2019s support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not in the best moment calendar-wise, and we\u2019re not in the best place geographically, but I think what you get to live here is more important than all that. I don\u2019t think there should be any obstacles for the tournaments to continue, players to keep coming here, and enjoying it all,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Darderi\u2019s hot streak continues The second semifinal featured Argentine-born Italian Luciano Darderi (22), who faced Sebasti\u00e1n B\u00e1ez (34). On the day he turned 24 years old, it was the Italian who once again picked up the victory \u2014 a repeat of their Australian Open duel \u2014 by 7-6 (2), 6-1.<\/p>\n
The match proved tense, with a section of fans happy to heckle Darderi, originally from Villa Gesell on the Argentine coast but representing Italy since age 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a duel between two of the in-form players of the season, it was an incredibly hard-fought first set, with both players pushing aggressively. Without much in the way of differences, it went to the tiebreak, and Darderi was more decisive and took it without problems.<\/p>\n
The second set was a very different affair. B\u00e1ez looked shocked after losing the first and quickly conceded his serve twice, and allowed Darderi to run away with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always a moment where the match is broken, and I\u2019ve learned to go through them very well,\u201d said Darderi after the match. \u201cGoing on until the end and not letting key moments go on forever \u2014 that\u2019s got a lot stronger in the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darderi said he \u201cfeels very confident\u201d going to the final in what he called a \u201cspecial game\u201d and a \u201cvery prestigious tournament that great players have won.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about the issue of his decision to defend Italy, he took the decision when he was \u201cvery young,\u201d feeling it was \u201cthe best for his future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have anything against Argentina,\u201d he added. \u201cAt the time, I just felt it was the best for my life, to be able to fulfill my dreams. If people understand that, good, and if they don\u2019t and don\u2019t want to support me, that\u2019s good too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cer\u00fandolo and Darderi will meet up in the final on Sunday, at 4 p.m. Argentine time.<\/p>\n
Cover photo: Francisco Cer\u00fandolo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It won\u2019t be an all-Argentine final at the 2026 Argentina Open, as many expected during the last days. At least not entirely. Top-ranked Argentine Francisco Cer\u00fandolo (ATP singles ranked 19) will face off against Argentine-born Italian Luciano Darderi (22) in the decider, after both won their respective semifinal matchups. Action at the Guillermo Vilas Center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":35582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5816,7838,9890,7839,67,5570,8105],"tags":[5814,7834,9889,7835,1369,5568,8099],"class_list":["post-35581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-2026-argentina-open","category-francisco-cerundolo","category-luciano-darderi","category-sebastian-baez","category-sports","category-tennis","category-tomas-etcheverry","tag-2026-argentina-open","tag-francisco-cerundolo","tag-luciano-darderi","tag-sebastian-baez","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tomas-etcheverry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}