When the Racquets Stop: Argentina’s Tennis World Erupts During The World Cup

For a few hours on Wednesday night, Argentina’s tennis community put down its racquets and picked up its flags. The national football team’s stunning 2-1 comeback win over England in the World Cup semifinal didn’t just send Lionel Scaloni’s side into a second straight final — it sent shockwaves through every corner of Argentine sport, tennis included.

The match had everything Argentine fans have come to expect from their team at this tournament: a scoreless, foul-filled first half, an England goal from Anthony Gordon that silenced Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and then, in the cruelest possible way for the Three Lions, two goals in the final ten minutes. Enzo Fernández leveled it in the 85th minute, and substitute Lautaro Martínez headed home the winner in stoppage time — both goals created by Lionel Messi, still weaving magic at 39. Argentina will face Spain in Sunday’s final, chasing back-to-back titles for the first time since Brazil managed it in 1962.

A Country That Stops for Ninety Minutes

Argentina doesn’t do quiet World Cup nights, and this one was no exception. Across the country’s sporting and entertainment world, reaction poured in within minutes of the final whistle. Basketball legend Manu Ginobili captured the mood for millions when he posted that what “these kids” had done was remarkable and beautiful — back in a World Cup final again. It’s the kind of unfiltered joy that tends to cut across sports in Argentina, where football is less a pastime than a shared nervous system.

That’s especially true for the country’s tennis players, many of whom grew up idolizing the same No. 10 shirt long before they ever picked up a racquet. Argentine tennis has always worn its football allegiance openly — practice courts around Buenos Aires have emptied out for big Selección matches for decades, and this World Cup has been no different, with players trading match highlights and nervous emojis between tournament rounds.

Following his win in Gstaad over Miomir Kecmanovic, Juan Mannuel Cerundolo of Argentina said of the win over England, “What I felt yesterday was incredible. I went t bed late even though I was playing at 10:30. I”m very happy for my country and hopefully on Sunday we can win the final.”

Del Potro’s Football Heart

Few Argentine athletes outside the football world have been as visibly devoted to the national team over the years as Juan Martín del Potro. The former US Open champion, a lifelong Boca Juniors fan, has never been shy about his football obsession — famously pausing his tennis career in his own mind to imagine what it would be like to play alongside Messi, and celebrating the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar with the same raw emotion as any fan back home. Del Potro’s love for the Albiceleste has become part of his public identity almost as much as his forehand, and this run to a second straight final — with Messi, remarkably, still leading the line — is exactly the kind of story that tends to pull him, like so many of his tennis compatriots, back to the television screen.

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Whether it’s del Potro watching from home in Tandil or a young player pausing between sets at a Challenger event somewhere in Europe, the sentiment travels the same circuit it always does in Argentina: pride, nerves, and a refusal to quite believe it’s happening again.

Toward Sunday

Argentina will need one more push past Spain, the reigning European champions, who beat France 2-0 to reach the final. It’s a tall order — bookmakers already have Argentina as underdogs for the title match — but after two comeback wins in the knockout rounds, few in Argentina are ready to bet against Messi and this team just yet.

For now, though, the country’s tennis world is doing what it always does when the Selección wins big: celebrating loudly, then getting back to work with one eye on Sunday’s final.