Argentina vs South Korea: Davis Cup Loss & Elimination | Olé

The Argentine illusion in Davis Cupwhich was officially launched on the last Friday of January, with the beginning of an eternal journey of almost 40 hours of travel towards Busan, came to an end this Sunday, with the 3-2 loss to South Korea in the first round of the 2026 Qualifiers. With a complete lineup of debutants, who agreed to modify their schedule to represent Argentina, there was finally no miracle for the team captained by Javier Franwhich Now he must compete for permanence in September.

With the series tied 1-1, after the victory of Thiago Tirante and the fall of Marco TrungellitiOn the first day, the national team started the second day of competition with the important victory in doubles Guido Andreozzi and Federico Gómez against the locals Ji Sung Nam and Uising Park, 6-3 and 7-5.

But the emotional injection of getting back to the top in the series was not enough. In the next turn, Tie rod (95º), the best Argentine racket of the team that traveled to Busan, fell to Soon-Woo Kwon 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3. And after 2-2, Trungelliti, the oldest debutant at 36 years old, was unable to beat Hyeon Chung, who took the decisive point for the locals 6-4, 6-3.

Favorites in the run-up, the path of the Argentine Davis Cup team began to go wrong weeks before the trip, with the setbacks that Frana suffered in defining the final formation: the calendar was her great enemy.

This year, the ITF decided to play the first round of the 2026 Qualifiers a week later than in 2025. And, with that modification, it generated an uncomfortable overlap with two transcendental tournaments for our country and for Argentine tennis players: the Challenger 125 in Rosario and the beginning of the Argentina Opentwo competitions that mark the start of the South American tour on clay.

“The ITF changes for this year made Argentine tennis clearly harmed because it is not compatible with the South American tour, depriving Davis Cup players from participating in Rosario and Buenos Aires and leaving them poorly prepared for the tour, which is vital for them due to the points at stake and the possibilities of playing in their country,” Frana had anticipated in the preview.

And to that great setback was also added the complexity of the trip to Busan. A transfer of almost two days, with previous stops in Sao Paulo, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Seoul. Without the possibility of changing the dates, due to the inflexibility of South Korea, the Argentine captain had to face the challenge of putting together the team without the usual surnames of Davis Cup in recent years.

Above, two days before the trip, Argentina also suffered the loss of Andrés Molteni, who was sidelined due to a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Juan Pablo Ficovich. A new blow that meant new planning for Frana, who had already decided on her doubles partner. Thus, despite the setbacks, Argentina arrived in Busan with a squad without Davis Cup experience, but with the added bonus of enthusiasm and the desire to represent their country for the first time. Finally, the goal of getting into the second round collided with a South Korea who was able to win the key points to win at home.

After falling in the first round of the 2026 Qualifiers, Argentina, like 12 other teams will have to compete in September to remain against one of the 13 teams that this weekend won their respective series in World Group I. The winner of said crossing will play the 2027 Qualifiers, while the loser will start their way again from World Group Iwith the hope of getting back into the 2028 Qualifiers.

The crossing will be defined by draw and Argentina’s possible rivals are: Finland, Switzerland, China, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Monaco, Lithuania, Türkiye, Poland and Paraguay, who have already closed their series. The winners are still to be determined. Morocco vs. Colombia (1-1), Greece vs. Mexico (1-1), Luxembourg vs. Ukraine (2-0).

Peru, Denmark, Norway, Serbia, Japan, Hungary and Brazil They will also have to play the playoffs to avoid being relegated to World Group I, because, like Argentina, they also fell in the first round of the Qualifiers. The losers of the series between Ecuador vs. Australia, Bulgaria vs. Belgium, India vs. Netherlands, Czech Republic vs. Sweden and France vs. Slovakia.

“I am super grateful, I want to thank you. I have an admiration that grew a lot for them. My personal sadness is because of all the dedication and predisposition they had and how well they integrated,” Javier Frana highlighted in a press conference when the series ended.

Along the same lines, regarding the team, he highlighted: “Many had almost no contact with each other and there was an unmatched brotherhood. They challenged themselves to do their best. “They have to leave with peace of mind that they have tried.”

“Davis has to go beyond the result, in growth, learning, the search for improvement . They all have nice challenges ahead of them and I will be very attentive to their development on the circuit. They will always have me for when they need it”the captain warned.

After the fall against Soon-Woo Kwon, number 343 in the world, Thiago Tirante regretted the result but was grateful for the call and highlighted that “It was one of the best weeks of my life.”

“I am very sad for not being able to give the point and the victory to Argentina, although I remain calm because I gave one hundred percent.”. Sometimes it’s not enough and those days are difficult. I got a little nervous when I was a break ahead in the third set,” explained the man from La Plata.

Regarding the possibility of representing Argentina for the first time, he expressed: “I take away many experiences and learnings from Javier and the entire team. It was one of the best weeks, tennis-wise, of my life. Despite the defeat, today the positive things outweigh the negative ones.”

For their part, Andreozzi and Gómez analyzed the victory in doubles, Argentina’s only point on Sunday. ” We had never played together and we had never played in the Davis Cup either, so it was a bit of a mystery. Since I arrived in Busan I felt very comfortable and I knew that the day it was my turn to play I would be able to show what I was capable of. It is a difficult situation, with a lot of pressure; It was a very important point, but I was confident that we were going to give a good image.”, Andreozzi highlighted.

On Gómez’s side, he added: “ A Davis Cup debut is not easy, but we knew we had to give our best, whatever the result.. The captains placed a lot of emphasis on maintaining energy and showing that we could impose our game. “I think we complement each other quite well.”

Trungelliti, meanwhile, lamented: “It’s better if I don’t make a personal assessment. The defeat is very recent, I don’t want to say things that are not, or that do not go with the philosophy we are having. The dedication we put into it was not in doubt. “It’s a sad day personally.”.