Lorenzo Sonego isn’t wrong: he will be Jannik Sinner’s opponent in the second round in Madrid, which will mark the debut of the number 1 seeding at the Spanish tournament. The Turin player passes on the veteran Richard Gasquet, managing the match excellently. It ends 6-2 7-5 for Sonny, who dispatches Richard in an hour and 24 minutes. Ice-cold on serve and very good at starting well with a 4-0 run, Sonego doesn’t allow the Frenchman to make an impact with his backhand. In the second set Richard increases the intensity, but a break in the eleventh game is enough to decide the match. Gasquet, who had passed through the qualifiers, is unable to keep up with the pace of Lorenzo, who will now challenge Jannik. The two Italians, who often play doubles together, will compete for the fifth time in their careers. The balance is ruthlessly in favor of Sinner, who has won the 4 previous games, leaving his opponent with only one set in 4 matches.
the match
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Gasquet, who hadn’t faced Sonego since 2018 and was 1-1 in the previous ones (victory at the Australian Open and defeat in Budapest), already looked particularly tired at the start of the match. For Sonny comes a partial of 16 points to 6 which completely directs the set, won easily in 27 minutes. But Gasquet, even though the winter of his career has now arrived, at 37 years old he is still a fearsome player, with 16 career titles and 3 1000 finals under his belt. Richard raises his level on serve and doesn’t take advantage of three break points in the second game. Sonego is not upset and understands that the game has changed, striking decisively in the eleventh game, opened by a passer and closed by a backhand return. With 9 aces and no double faults Sonego was perfect on serve and closed the match without shaking.
