After reaching the quarterfinals in the 2025 edition, the setback represented a strong setback for the team led by Javier Frana, which came to this series with a renewed squad, made up mostly of young players.
Sunday’s day began with a glimmer of hope for the South Americans with a victory in the doubles, after Guido Andreozzi and Federico Gómez defeated the pairing of Ji Sung Nam and Uising Park 6-3 and 7-5.
However, the absence of their best man, Francisco Cerúndolo, 19th in the professional classification, stopped the hopes of the albicelestes, who lost the remaining singles challenges.
Thiago Agustín Tirante was close to having a break of advantage in the decisive set, but ended up losing against Kwon Soon-woo, a tennis player ranked 248 places below the Argentine, 4-6, 6-4 and 3-6.
In the decisive match, Hyeon Chung, a player who is currently doing mandatory military service in the Asian country, beat Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 6-3.
The 2016 champions have eight players in the top 100 of the pro ranks, but they only took one, Tirante, to South Korea.
In the second round, the South Koreans will face the winner of the duel between India and the Netherlands for a place in the Davis Cup Final 8.
room/am
