Arnaldi overtakes Gaius, Giustino advances
Matteo Arnaldi and Lorenzo Giustino are the first two Italian players to remove the pass for the second round of the 29th edition of the Internazionali San Marino Openappointment of the ATP Challenger Tour (€ 67.960 the prize money) taking place on the courts of the Cassa di Risparmio di Montecchio Tennis Center.
In the tricolor derby that represents the cartel match of the opening day of the main draw the 21 year old from Sanremothis week n.204 ATP (his new best ranking) and eighth seeded, gave no escape to Federico Gaio from Faenza (n.331 ATP). The Ligurian broke the serve from the Romagna already in the opening game, and then stretched to 5-1, having two set balls canceled and still closing the fraction in the eighth game. From that moment on Arnaldi, who in May in Francavilla won his first Challenger title, found no more resistance, closing 62 60 in just 67 minutes of the game.
Much more offer was instead the affirmation of the 30-year-old Neapolitan (# 253 ATP), who in an authentic marathon (three hours and 6 minutes the duration of the match) eliminated the Croatian Nino Serdarusic, n.175 in the world ranking and seventh favorite in seeding: 76 (0) 46 63 the score with which Giustino took his fourth success in as many head-to-head with the 25-year-old from Zagreb.
Previously, the Latvian Ernests Gulbis, former top ten, destined for one of the three wild cards, had left the scene, who after missing a set-point at 5-3 was finished 76 (4) 60 by the 19-year-old Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu.
In the last match of the day the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (# 248 ATP) eliminated by 76 (4) 64, in an hour and 41 minutes, Flavio Cobolli (# 134 ATP), fourth-seeded and on the scoreboard with a joker.
Tricolor smiles also in qualifying, where two of the six promoted tennis players are Italian. In fact, they detach the ticket for the main draw Francesco Forti and Alexander Weis. The 23-year-old from Cesenatico (453 ATP), reduced from the final in the ITF of Bolzano 25 thousand dollars, after the victory on Sunday against the Russian Yan Bondarevskiy, showed solidity by dominating 63 62 the Argentine Matias Zukas, sixth seeded in the ” which ones ”, who 24 hours earlier had blocked the way to Manuel Mazza from Rimini (wildcard).