Tough day for Argentines at Roland Garros as Sierra and Tirante crash out

Friday was a bad day for Argentine tennis at Roland Garros 2026. Solana Sierra, the only Albiceleste representative in the women’s singles draw, fell to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, while Thiago Tirante lost to Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta. It was a harsh elimination for Sierra, who was ousted by 6-0, 6-0 in under an hour.  The 21-year-old, currently ranked 68th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, was coming off her best match ever when she defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini (13). Before that, she ousted Britain’s Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, in the first round. However, she struggled to counter Cirstea’s power from the baseline; Cirstea controlled the match and always seized the initiative. Sierra struggled to hold her service games and never managed to make ground during the long rallies. Regardless, it was Sierra’s best performance at Roland Garros after having lost in the first match in 2025. The result will see her jump to a career-high 54th in the ranking. For his part, Tirante, currently ranked 60th in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings, fell to Carreño Busta (89th) by 7-6 (0), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, after three hours and 36 minutes. The 25-year-old capped off his best-ever performance at a Grand Slam and will enter the world’s top 50 for the first time starting next week. Solid results on Thursday Thursday’s session at Roland Garros was dominated by news of Juan Manuel Cerúndolo taking down World No. 1 Jannik Sinner 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in the second round. He’ll next face Spain’s Martin Landaluce (69) on Saturday. However, he wasn’t the only Argentine to succeed. Brother Francisco, the top-ranked Argentine remaining in the men’s singles draw, defeated local Hugo Gaston (118) by 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 in two hours and 45 minutes. “My family decided they would split up [to cheer both brothers who played at the same time]”, he said after the match, adding he asked what was going on after noticing they weren’t in his corner, and was told Juan Manuel was two sets to one 1 down.  “After that, people started telling me, ‘Your brother is winning, your brother is winning.’ I didn’t want to hear anything; I was struggling with my own match,” he said. “Then they told me, ‘Your brother won,’ and I was like, ‘damn it, now I have to win mine, I can’t mess up.’ It was all very crazy,” he joked. The 27-year-old, currently ranked 26th in the world, will face United States player Zachary Svajda (85) on Saturday. The last Argentine to secure his spot in the third round was Francisco Comesaña (102), who defeated Argentine-born Italian Luciano Darderi (17) by 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in over four hours.  His next opponent will be former World No. 6 Matteo Berrettini from Italy, also facing off on Saturday.