A decidedly “blue” Tuesday afternoon took place today on the courts of the Sporting Club of Sassuolo where the third edition of the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup organized by Master Group Sport with the patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region will take place until Saturday. In fact, five Italian tennis players have secured a place in the round of 16 while waiting for Giulio Zeppieri’s match, who at 6.00 pm will face the Slovakian Martin Klizan, former number 24 in the world, on the central court. The first Italian to get through to the second round was Federico Arnaboldi from Como, capable of overcoming the former world number 37, the Spaniard Zapata Miralles, who withdrew from the match after losing the first set in a tie-break. Tomorrow Arnaboldi will find the number 1 seed of the tournament, the Argentinian Federico Coria, on the other side of the net.
Stefano Travaglia also passed the round by easily beating the Argentine Guido Andreozzi with a score of 62 64: tomorrow the tennis player from the Marche region will face the German Daniel Altmaier who gave a severe 61 60 to the Swede Ymer. All three Italians returning from the qualifiers then passed the round with momentum. On the central block, the spectacular game of Marco Cecchinato took place, returning to his former glory to overcome the highly rated Argentine Francisco Comesana (number 118 in the world ranking) with a score of 76 62.
«I’m happy because today I raised the level against one of the strongest players in this tournament – comments the “Check” – It wasn’t easy at all and I’m therefore satisfied because I also played a good game. I remained very attentive, concentrated, solid and pushed continuously knowing that it was the tactical key to winning the match.”
Cecchinato will face the Korean Gerard Lee Campana tomorrow. Also Riccardo Bonadio scores his third consecutive victory in three days by coming from behind to beat the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (former number 60 in the world) by 26 64 64:
«It was a match that I started badly, with a lot of fouls. I didn’t hold the first few turns of serve and he was good at playing fast, low balls that took me out of my comfort zone behind the court. Little by little, by lengthening the trajectories and loosening the pace, I managed to prolong the exchanges, lower his ball speed and get more into my ideal game plan. So far my condition has improved day by day even if with this heat it’s difficult to understand how I’ll feel tomorrow, but I’m trained for this type of match. And, as I think you can see from the stands, I also like playing them.”
Fabio Fognini will be waiting for him in a center that promises to be packed for tomorrow’s evening match.
«I played with Fognini last year in Valencia, losing in the third. I know very well the pace of the match
it will depend more on him than on me. He is a player of an important level that we all know, but I do
I’m ready to do battle, we’ll see who comes out on top in the end.”
A match forbidden to faint hearts that handed the round of 16 into the hands of Alexander Weis.
In fact, the South Tyrolean also had to cancel out a match point to the Frenchman Valentin Royer (199 in the world)
coming to the end of the match with a score of 36 61 76.
«I didn’t start very well also thanks to my opponent – explains Alex – In the second set I raised the level a little and then the third was a furious battle. I’m happy to have overcome so many difficult moments during the set, now I’ll recover and rest for tomorrow.”
The 17 year old from Palermo Federico Cinà, despite succumbing to the Argentinian Thiago Tirante (number 124 in the world) made a great impression, confirming a talent that is destined to blossom in the coming years. The final score (67, 57) confirms the level and balance of the match played by Federico against the most highly rated opponent. To close the “hot” Tuesday in Sassuolo (today it reached 32 degrees) the French Luca Van Assche (seeded number 6) against the Argentine Roman Burruchaga, the Czech Jiri Vesely against the Peruvian Ignacio Buse and, in the evening match on the central at 8 pm, the winner of the 2023 edition of the tournament Alexandre Muller opposite the Dutch Jesper De Jong.
