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 International San Marino Openappointment ofATP Challenger Tour (€ 67,960 prize pool) in progress on the courts of the Tennis Center Cassa di Risparmio di Montecchio. In the tricolor derby that represents the cartel match of the opening day of the main draw, the 21-year-old from Sanremo, this 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 service 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 practically no resistance, closing 6-2 6-0 in just 67 minutes of the game.

Much more offer was instead the affirmation of the 30-year-old Neapolitan (n.253 ATP), who at the end of an authentic marathon (three hours and 6 minutes the duration of the match) eliminated the Croatian Nino Serdarusic, n.175 of the world ranking and seventh favorite of seeding: 7-6 4-6 6-3 the score with which Giustino took the fourth success in as many head-to-head with the 25-year-old from Zagreb.

The Latvian had previously left the scene Ernest Gulbisformer top ten, recipient of one of three wild cards, who, after reaching a set point at 5-3, was eliminated 7-6 6-0 by 19-year-old Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu.

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 25 thousand dollars in Bolzano, after the victory on Sunday against the Russian Yan Bondarevskiy, showed solidity by dominating 6-3 6-2 the Argentine Matias Zukas, sixth head series of “which”, which 24 hours earlier had blocked the way to the Rimini Manuel Mazza (wildcard).