Thiago Tirante and Juan Manuel Cerúndolo Eliminated in China Open First Round

Cerúndolo Falls to Local Wild Card Bu in Three Sets

Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, ranked No. 53 in the world, lost to local wild card entrant Yunchaokete Bu 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and 20 minutes. Bu, ranked No. 104, secured the opening set before the 24-year-old Argentine fought back to level the match in the second. In the deciding set, Bu broke in the sixth game and held off his opponent to advance.

Bu enters the next round with a potential matchup against Novak Djokovic, who had played his last match in this tournament in 2015. Djokovic is scheduled to open his campaign against Portuguese player Nuno Borges.

Struff Dominates Tirante in Straight Sets

Thiago Tirante experienced a swift exit in his opening match, falling 6-1, 6-4 to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in just one hour and six minutes. Struff controlled the tempo from the outset, sweeping through the first set before fending off a brief fightback from the 25-year-old Argentine in the second.

A quick day in the office 🏃‍♂️💪

Jan-Lennard Struff defeats Tirante 6-1 6-4 in 65 minutes to move into R2! #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/36eTD1O0Ob

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 30, 2026

Following his win over Tirante, Struff advances toward a potential octavos de final clash with third-seeded Russian player Daniil Medvedev, who faces Spanish qualifier Pablo Carreño Busta in his opening fixture.

Upcoming Matches for Argentine Contingent

The remaining Argentine singles players are scheduled to take the court on Thursday at the hard-court tournament, which features a total prize pool exceeding four million dollars:

• Sebastián Báez (No. 51) faces local wild card Juncheng Shang (No. 250).
• Mariano Navone (No. 45) meets Australian fifth seed Alex de Miñaur (No. 10).
• Francisco Cerúndolo (No. 22) plays Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp (No. 40).

Doubles Competition Updates

In the doubles draw, the Argentine pairing of Máximo “Machi” González and Andrés Molteni advanced to the main draw after defeating Sander Gillé and Sem Verbeek 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 10-4 in the qualifying rounds. They will face the French team of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the opening round.

Guido Andreozzi partners with France’s Manuel Guinard, who is the top seed, in their opening-round fixture against the Dutch duo Sander Arends and David Pel. Meanwhile, Francisco Cerúndolo paired with Arthur Rinderknech in the doubles tournament but exited in the first round following a defeat to Aleksandr Búblik and Shang Juncheng.