South American tennis regains its strength in this edition of Roland Garros with four of its players going to the round of 16, an unprecedented situation since 2005, when six Argentines reached the fourth round of the tournament.
That year the chosen ones were David Nalbandian, Gastón Gaudio, Guillermo Coria, Guillermo Cañas, Mariano Puerta and José Acasuso. Cañas and Puerta went to the quarterfinals, who reached the final and lost to the Spanish Rafa Nadal, who won the first of his 14 crowns.
Since 2005, only three or fewer South American players have reached the round of 16 each year, a losing streak that ends in this edition of the French tournament, in which two Argentines, a Peruvian and a Chilean continue to fight for the title.
Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (94th ATP), who debuted his record of victories in Grand Slam this Monday, will face the legendary Novak Djokovic (3rd) on Sunday. He is the first player from this country to reach the round of 16 of a Grand Slam since Jaime Yzaga in 1994.
Already on Monday, the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo (23rd) will play for a place in the quarterfinals with the Danish Holger Rune (6th), who eliminated his compatriot Genaro Olivieri this Saturday.
The also Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry (46th) will play against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (33rd).
Finally, the Chilean Nicolás Jarry (35th) will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud (4th), finalist in Paris last year.