International, in Rome the pre-qualifiers. Cecchinato, Zeppieri, Nardi

The sky of Rome tells us that it is time for Internazionali. Sun, heat, a breath of wind, no clouds, hats and bottles of water as if it were a must. In the middle a bustle of kids and school groups. There are those who have lunch on the empty power plant, those who take a tour of the stands under construction and those who attend the pre-qualifications on the Pietrangeli, where Marco Cecchinato overcomes Francesco Maestrelli (7-5, 7-6) in two sets and passes the shift. He will face Francesco Forti, 22, number 323 in the standings tomorrow.

Ceck

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His game is tough, far from obvious, because Maestrelli makes use of the powerful forehand and unloads several long lines that leave Marco stunned, many times surprised but in the end victorious. All with strength, determination and intelligence, always in control despite the difficulty. He also won several applauses with a couple of dampenings of his, a trademark that also bewitched Djokovic at Roland Garros four years ago, the first and only semi-final of a career Grand Slam. At the end of the match some fans stop him and he entertains himself for a selfie, signs the balls and lets himself go to the scattered compliments. He will face Forti for the quarterfinals of the pre-qualifiers, hoping to snatch the pass for the main draw. His best result in Rome remains the second round, achieved three times between 2018 and 2020 (out against Goffin, Kohlschreiber and Krajinovic). In 2021 he went out in the second qualifying round. Now he wants to return as a protagonist.

Nardi and Zeppieri ahead

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Successes also for the eighteen year old Luca Nardi (7-6, 6-3 to Gianluca Piraino), Matteo Arnaldi (3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Matteo Gigante), Francesco Passaro (6-1, 6-4 vs Riccardo Balzerani), Giulio Zeppieri (6-4 6-4 to Daniele Capecchi), Gian Marco Ferrari (6-2 7-5 to Gian Marco Moroni) and Giovanni Fonio (6-4, 7-5 vs Luca Potenza). Chapter women: Nuria Brancaccio (6-2, 6-3 vs Claudia Giovine), Stefania Rachel Rubini (6-3, 6-3 vs Michele Alexandra Zmau), Melania Delai (6-2, 6-2 vs) pass to the next round Aurora Zantedeschi), Dalila Spiteri (7-6, 6-3 vs Sofia Rocchetti), Federica Di Sarra (7-6, 6-3 vs Martina Spigarelli), Eleonora Alvisi (7-6, 7-6 vs Anastasia Grymalska), Lisa Pigato (6-3, 6-4 vs Stefania Chieppa) and Angelica Raggi (2-6, 6-2, 7-5 vs Deborah Chiesa).

The games

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Tomorrow the quarterfinals of the pre-qualifiers. Cecchinato will face Forti, then it will be up to Nardi-Arnaldi, Passaro-Zeppieri and Conio-Ferrari. In the women’s draw space for Di Sarra-Alvisi, Spiteri-Brancaccio, Delai-Rubini and Raggi-Pigato. We start at 10 with Passaro-Zeppieri on the Pietrangeli (followed by Cecchinato-Nardi, then two doubles matches). The other matches will be distributed on all the other courts of the Forum.