Heart, determination and courage: a fabulous Matteo Arnaldi gets to the round of 16 in the ATP 500 in Barcelona by defeating the number 8 seed, Sebastian Baez and also canceling them four match points. 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 the score for the Italian at the end of a battle lasting just under three hours of play.
The story of the match
In the first set the balance is broken in the seventh game, with Baez scoring the break at the second opportunity, then confirming it and going up 5-3 thanks to a spectacular point in the net coverage. At the moment of closing the partial, however, the Argentine is betrayed by the tension and Arnaldi manages to complete the connection at 5-5, also thanks to a split backhand passer who gives him the first break point of the match. The set seems headed for a tiebreak, but the Italian suffers again on serve and suffers a new, bloody break. Baez doesn’t tremble and closes the set 7-5 after 55 minutes of play.
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Arnaldi needs a reaction which promptly arrives in the second set: a string of breaks and counterbreaks between the second and fourth game gives the Italian the 3-1. The ATP number 40 would even have an opportunity for a double break at 4-1, 40-30 in response, but Baez saved himself with excellent reflexes at the net. The unexploited chance destabilizes Arnaldi, who loses the next four games and sends the Argentine to serve for the match. On the best part, however, Baez demonstrates that he is experiencing a moment in which he has difficulty closing out games, even double faulting on match point. The counterbreak opportunities pile up and on the fifth chance, as in the first set, the Italian manages to complete the lead at 5-5. Unlike what happened previously, Arnaldi not only managed to overtake at 6-5, but found himself having a set point in response, wasted with a forehand cue. The tiebreak already promises to be full of upsets and in fact it does not disappoint expectations: Baez has three more match points at 6-3, but Arnaldi stays there, courageously, even scoring an ace at 6-5. Baez saves two more set points at 7-6 and 8-7, but can do nothing on the fourth occasion. After almost two and a half hours, he goes to the third set.
Third set in which, however, Baez still has his mind on all the wasted opportunities. The Argentine immediately lost serve at the start of the set and then again in the fifth game. All Arnaldi had to do was manage the advantage and then close it 6-2 on the second match point. In the round of 16 the Italian will face one of the Argentinian qualifier Trungelliti and the number 9 seed Nicolas Jarryagainst whom Arnaldi lost two times out of two and always after having had match points in his favor.
