Matteo and Lorenzo are up 2-1 for the Roman, but the too slippery ground forced the referee to decide to stop. Jannik starts slowly then closes 7-5 6-1 6-2
– LONDON
“As long as we don’t get hurt, they won’t let us stop…”. Matteo Berrettini says with a smile that he hides his anger, after seeing Lorenzo Sonego fly to the ground, slipping on the grass and ending up upside down. It’s 8.24pm, night is slowly falling over Wimbledon and the green grass that makes the London slam so unique is becoming more and more humid, more and more unplayable. Berrettini had already complained during the third set, even after winning it he had asked the chair umpire to stop. Sonego’s flight was the last signal. And so the blue derby that began on Tuesday at lunchtime and continued on Wednesday at dinnertime will end on Thursday, with times yet to be defined. Berrettini will start again ahead two sets to one, but with the sensation of “a sword stuck in the stomach” to be let go quickly. And Sonego too will have to understand how much damage was caused by the crash that sent him upside down and led to suspension. In the two sets and pennies played, both won by Berrettini after his friend had won the first set on Tuesday, Matteo had given good signs: he’s not at his best and it shows, but his serve is as powerful as Sonego’s and the shots enter . It was a battle with powerful and almost uncatchable serves. One destined to continue.
the match
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It takes 9 games to see a 15 lost by the server and 11 for the first break point, which Sonego cancels Berrettini with an ace. Despite the constant threat of rain, the first set comes to the tie-break which Sonego closes on 7-5. Then the rain stops everything. It starts again after more than 24 hours, with the sun peeping through black clouds. But time holds, as Berrettini, who increases in level, breaks his friend’s serve keeping it zero in the 8th game and then takes the set on his turn of service. The third set goes straight to the tie-break, with services from the two too powerful: Sonego cancels Berrettini’s first set point with his serve, but on the second he sends a long forehand. The match still lasts two and a half games: Sonego flies to the ground, slipping on the increasingly wet grass, and Berrettini returns to ask for the match to be suspended. This time the chair umpire listens to him, and the infinite blue derby continues.
SINNER WARMS UP
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And if the other two compatriots play in installments, Jannik Sinner is already comfortable in the third round of the tournament after overcoming diego Schwartzman in three sets 7-5 6-1 6-2. A match that started a bit uphill for the South Tyrolean who struggled in the first set with a rather low percentage of firsts. Sinner had to save himself from the break twice, but he was good at reacting immediately and restarting in the second set, greatly raising the pace and power of his shots. A crescendo that left no way out for the Argentine beaten four times in as many matches with Sinner. The Italian number 1 will presumably return to the field on Friday, weather permitting, for the 3rd round against the winner between Vukic and Halys, another affordable match on paper.
FOUND
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“I thank the public – said Sinner in the interview on the field – for waiting until late to see my match. I played a good match and I hit really well and hard especially in the third set. At the beginning he tried to contain the exchange and then gradually I gained more and more confidence pushing and always leaning well on the shots I always go on the field with high expectations, but after Monte Carlo I had some problems, but here in this place I am finding myself and I hope to possible forward”
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