Van de Zandschulp was one of three Dutchmen in the French Open main draw and the second to come into action after Jesper de Jong had eliminated Stan Wawrinka from the latter's last French Open in four sets.
Against 26th-ranked Cerundolo, Van de Zandschulp opened strong but suffered three consecutive breaks to end a disappointing first set in defeat.
Van de Zandschulp looked to have regrouped after taking an early break lead, but fell back to his old habits and eventually handed Cerundolo the set after two sloppy mistakes. It was proving to be a tricky afternoon for the 55th-ranked Dutchman, who was on 35 unforced errors after two sets.
The Dutchman momentarily shifted the tide after coming back from a 5-3 deficit in the third set and forcing a tiebreak. After initially fending off a match point, Van de Zandschulp took the third set to stay alive in Paris.
His survival wasn't long-lived, however - Cerundolo and Van de Zandschulp exchanged breaks, after which both got close to another, but it was the Argentinian who, after leaving two more match points on the table, took the match after 3 hours and 40 minutes.
The 30-year-old Van de Zandschulp will head home after his fourth consecutive first-round exit at the French Open, while Cerundolo prepares to meet either Hugo Gaston or Gael Monfils in the second round.
Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore
