ROSARIO/STARNBERG, February 5, 2026
World No. 85 Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the fourth seed at the Quini 6 Rosario Challenger presented by the Government of Santa Fe Province, came through a tough late-night battle to reach the quarterfinals after rallying past his compatriot Juan Bautista Torres in a match that lasted more than two and a half hours.
One of the four ATP champions in the draw – having lifted the Cordoba Open trophy in 2021 on his main-tour debut – Cerundolo took revenge on Torres, who had beaten him in straight sets in their previous two meetings. The win breaks their head-to-head tie and sends Cerundolo back to the quarterfinals in Rosario, where he will try to reach the semifinals for the first time. Although he owns 11 ATP Challenger titles and has won at least one trophy every season since 2021, he has not lifted a title on clay for 16 months, with his last coming in September 2024 in Antofagasta, Chile.
El MATCH POINT DEL DÍA presentado por @chevroletarg es para…@jmcerundolo, que se quedó con una batalla ante Bauti Torres y está en cuartos de final del @rosariochall pic.twitter.com/y8hMavUyLi
— Quini 6 Rosario Challenger (@rosariochall) February 5, 2026
The round of 16 also saw a win for the only Asian player in the field, Taiwan’s Chun-Hsin Tseng (No. 122), the sixth seed, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament after defeating Facundo Mena 6-3, 7-5. Five of Tseng’s six Challenger titles have come on clay, his favorite surface.
The first Argentine to reach the quarterfinals was one of the surprises of the tournament, Valerio Aboian (No. 526). Entering the main draw as a lucky loser, he put together back-to-back wins over Thiago Seyboth Wild and Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo to return to the quarterfinal stage for the first time in a year and a half, his last appearance having come in August 2024 in Como, Italy. If he gets past Tseng, he will match his best Challenger result, achieved in San Miguel de Tucumán in April of that year.
On Center Court at the Jockey Club, the home crowd was encouraged by a strong opening set from local favorite Luciano Ambrogi (No. 424), but the greater experience of eighth seed Andrea Pellegrino (No. 143) proved decisive. The Italian came back to win in three sets, helped by a hip issue that hampered Ambrogi in the decider. With the victory, Pellegrino improved on his 2025 result in Rosario, where he had previously lost in the second round to Francisco Comesana.
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Singles – Second Round
[4] Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (ARG) d. [WC] Juan Bautista Torres (ARG) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
[6] Chun-Hsin Tseng (TPE) d. Facundo Mena (ARG) 6-3, 7-5
[8] Andrea Pellegrino (ITA) d. [Q] Luciano Emanuel Ambrogi (ARG) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
[LL] Valerio Aboian (ARG) d. Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo (ESP) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles – First Round
[1] Miguel Reyes-Varela (MEX) / Fernando Romboli (BRA) d. [WC] Luciano Emanuel Ambrogi (ARG) / Mateo Del Pino (ARG) 6-2, 7-5.
[WC] Andrea Collarini (ARG) / Renzo Olivo (ARG) d. [3] Paulo Andre Saraiva Dos Santos (BRA) / Gonzalo Villanueva (ARG) 6-4, 2-6, 10-8.
[4] Ignacio Carou (URU) / Facundo Mena (ARG) d. Conner Huertas del Pino (PER) / Bruno Oliveira (BRA) 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.
Valerio Aboian (ARG) / Tomas Farjat (ARG) d. Marco Cecchinato (ITA) / Andrea Pellegrino (ITA) 2-3, retired.
Igor Marcondes (BRA) / Eduardo Ribeiro (BRA) d. Alex Barrena (ARG) / Nicolas Kicker (ARG) by walkover.
[ALT] Juan Estévez (ARG) / Lucio Ratti (ARG) d. Genaro Alberto Olivieri (ARG) / Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo (ESP) by walkover.
