Try it, he will try because it is in his nature and because in the two previous Grand Slam tournaments Mattia Bellucci sold his skin dearly against high-ranking players. But The loss of Wimbledon of the 23 year old from Castellanza It’s certainly not one of the easiest: the draw (held at 11am on Friday morning) put him in front to the American Ben Shelton, i.e. the 14th seed of the tournament. The match is scheduled Monday 1 July from 12pm, but the time may vary.
Shelton is very young (21 years old, one younger than Bellucci) but he has great talent and is one of three star-spangled players who are “hot on each other’s heels” in the rankings (the other two are Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz, all close to the top ten; just behind is Sebastian Korda). In his career he has already won two ATP titlesi.e. Tokyo in 2023 on hard courts and Houston this year on clay reaching that position number 14 held from April to today which is also the best career ranking.
On thefouractually, Shelton he doesn’t seem particularly comfortable: at Wimbledon 2023 (first participation) he exited in the second round while this year he has lost the first two matches played in Stuttgart (with Duckworth) and Queens (with Mpetshi Perricard). In Mallorca, where he was the first seed, he reached the quarter finals losing against the qualifier Paul Jubb.
In short, a tough nut but one that leaves some chances for Bellucci: Fabio Chiappini’s student against Goffin he played a really excellent match, with a very interesting variety of shots, with a rather annoying before service for the much more experienced opponent (15 aces) and with numerous winning descents on the net. A sample that on the London grass is always very useful and appreciated.
ITALIANS
They are well 10 Italian players admitted to the Wimbledon main draw with Jannik Sinner obviously leader and number 1 in the world. The South Tyrolean will debut against the German Hanfmann but risks finding himself in the derby with Matteo in the second round Berrettini, 2021 finalist and grass specialist. The Roman will make his debut with the Hungarian Fucsovics.
The blue number 2, Lorenzo Musetti, has the number 25 seed and has drawn the Frenchman Lestienne. The others: Arnaldi – Tiafoe (One), I’m singing – Navone (Argentina), Fognini – Koepfer (Germania), Darderi – Choinski (Great Britain), Cobolli – Hijikata (Australia), Nardi – Etcheverry (Argentina).
