Great character and played like a true player: this is how Francesco Passaro takes the main draw of the Italian Internationals. The only Italian who made it through the first round (10 out of 11 went through) reached his destination after a very tough match against the Croatian Duje Ajdukovic, resolved only in the final, risking psychodrama before the third tie-break in 3 sets. He finishes 7-6 (5) 6-7 (6) 7-6 (3) for the blue, who is saved by the rain at a time when the match was getting out of hand and closes in 2 hours and 59 minutes . Passaro, who last year went out with Ramos after taking a set and who in 2022 was eliminated by the Chilean Garin, returns among the big names in world tennis.
the match
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If as many breaks arrive in the first two rounds of service, you will no longer see the shadow of a lost serve for almost 2 hours of the match. Passaro wins the first set in the tie-break, taking advantage of the third chance. The second set is identical to the first: we slide towards the tie-break and there Francesco has a match point at 6-5. He wastes it and the Croatian forcefully returns to the game thanks to 3 consecutive points, apparently turning the inertia in his favor. It’s all an illusion, because Ajdukovic’s fuel runs out and Passaro spreads in the decisive set, scoring a run of 20 points to 6 which brings him one game away from the main draw. The match seems over and instead tennis always offers unthinkable surprises. The Croatian finds a partial score of 20 points to 9, with 5 consecutive games and two breaks recovered: everything is reopened, with Passaro holding the serve and breaking the deadlock, which Ajdukovic also does in the next game. We go to the third tie-break of the match and at 2-2 a blessed rain arrives, which allows Passaro to reorganize his ideas for 30 minutes and close by dominating the last points upon returning to the pitch.
