There will be three Italians in the quarterfinals of Challenger 175: Berrettini beat the top seed Navone, Cadenasso who achieved his first career success against a top 100 player and Arnaldi defeated Cerundolo
Excellent for the Italians in Cagliari, for the Challenger 175. With three players in the quarterfinals out of five involved (there was a derby) and the cover stolen naturally by Matteo Berrettini, who beats the top seed in the draw Mariano Navone 7-5 6-3. A sparkling performance from the blue, who makes up for a few too many missed passes seen in the first round against Kypson. Under the Sardinian sun, in front of a full center field, he leaves excellent feelings for the rest of the tournament. As he also demonstrates with the joy that exudes from every pore after the match: “Playing in Italy has been one of my dreams since I was a child, I played a high-level match today. I felt good on the pitch, then there’s the sun and crazy support… I can’t help but be happy. And now all I can do is recommend all of you to come back tomorrow for the quarterfinals!”. Where he will face Hubert Hurkacz, who he beat in the 2021 Wimbledon semi-final, on his way to his historic final at the Championships.
the match
—
The Berrettini that we see today is of a completely different mix compared to the one in the first round. Despite a slow start, with a break in the third game, he soon puts things right: immediate counter-break and from there he takes control of the situation. Despite a few too many unforced errors (21 in the first set), he made the difference with the first serve, winning 83% of the points and ending up closing with a break in the twelfth game. In the second set, however, the balance was first and definitively broken in favor of Berrettini. Raising the pace in response, especially with the forehand, the blue player takes the lead in the sixth game and, often also going to the net, goes on to take home the match with a 6-3 which could also have been a 6-2. Victory that echoes the great performance of Matteo Arnaldi, also against an Argentinian, dominant 6-2 6-3 over Juan Manuel Cerundolo. First win against a top 70 player since last October in Vienna against Kovacevic. Which was also the last tournament in which he had won at least two matches in a row. A victory that smacks of oxygen for Arnaldi, who will face number 3 in the draw Nuno Borges in the quarterfinals, the only remaining top 50 player, who emerged victorious over Cristian Garin.
surprise
—
But the one who stands out, alongside Berrettini, is Gianluca Cadenasso. The 22-year-old finds the coup, not at all predictable, against Mattia Bellucci for 7-5 6-1. The Lombard, after the good victory against Sonego, probably arrives at today’s match too tired, especially mentally. The n.78 ATP actually started off strong, going ahead 4-1 with two breaks, but without being able to follow up on the sprint start, with an excessively shaky serve. Cadenasso was quick to take advantage of it, and went on to win 12 of the next 14 games, taking advantage of a total of 33 unforced scores from Bellucci. This marks the first victory for the Genoese against a top 100 player, in his first match ever against a player of that ranking. Thus comes the fifth Challenger quarterfinal for Gianluca, who will be sure to improve his best ranking, getting closer to the top 220. He will face Jesper De Jong, who eliminated the n.2 seeded Adrian Mannarino. Andrea Pellegrino, on the other hand, says goodbye to the tournament, beaten by Roman Andres Burruchaga 6-4 4-6 7-5, after also having two match points in response in the tenth game of the third. The Argentine will face Marcos Giron in the quarterfinals.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED