The eighth edition of the match will end without victories for the home players, at least in singles AZIMUT Trophy ($15,000, clay). The last hope was entrusted to Filiberto Fumagalli, to whom the urn certainly did not give a birthday present (he will turn 22 on Friday). The 2022 ATP number (who recently won an Open tournament in Parre, right in the province of Bergamo) has drawn a tough opponent in the Argentine Juan Bautista Otegui, who precedes him in the rankings by around 1,200 positions. After the final 6-4 6-3,
Otegui will be happy to know that beating Fumagalli at the AZIMUT Trophy is often a guarantee of victory: on two occasions, in fact, whoever beat the blond Filiberto went on to win the title. In 2021 he succeeded to Federico Arnaboldi, last year to Inaki Montes De La Torre. There is a hint of regret because the match was “close”, and Fumagalli did not play his best tennis. In particular, he wasn’t too brilliant on an athletic level, given that speed and dynamism are his main characteristics. It must be said that Otegui has a particularly insidious game, atypical for a player of his nationality: being 191 centimeters tall he plays very aggressively, often risking beyond measure.
THREE ARGENTINES, ONE GERMAN AND ONE SLOVAKIAN
In the evening the adventure ended Filippo Francesco Garbero, the boy from 2009 who had caused so much talk in the first few days, passing the qualifications for his first ITF experience. Daniele Minighini, a Roman who will turn 20 in a few weeks, plays really good tennis, sublimated by a nice one-handed backhand – a shot sadly in danger of extinction – and showed why just last Monday he celebrated his best ranking ( n.1200 ATP). Garbero defended himself as best he could, confirming his excellent qualities, but surrendered with a score of 6-2 6-3.
However, Italy remains the protagonist at the Via della Martinella club: in the round of 16, all scheduled for Thursday, there will be twelve Italians. Among the foreigners still competing, two Argentinians (Otegui, Carnevalle and Paz), the German Luca Wiedenmann and the revived Andrej Martin, who at the end of a real battle, which ended at 11 pm, overtook the Argentine Mariano Kestelboim (finalist in charge and number 2 on the scoreboard) with a score of 5-7 6-4 6-3. Kestelboim regrets having wasted four break points at 7-5 3-2 in his favor, which probably would have made the difference. It ended 5-7 6-4 6-3 and the Slovakian demonstrated, on the pitch, that his return is a serious matter. The matches will start at 11am (great anticipation for Pennaforti-Carnevalle, a match that is worth more than an eighth of a final) and also include the quarterfinals of the doubles draw, in which Borrelli-Fermi will also take part, the home pair who took advantage of the first round of the withdrawal of the opponents.
