Not even a free seat on the Central Court of the Perugia Tennis Club: the second evening session of the City of Perugia Tennis Internationals | GIMa. Tennis Cup is sold out. The derbies won by Luciano Darderi and Fabio Fognini lit up the night in the ATP Challenger 125 tournament organized by MEF Tennis Events (9-16 June). For the Italian-Argentine, seeded number 1 and in the draw thanks to a wild card granted by FITP, a 6-3 6-0 success over Federico Cinà, born in 2007, also the beneficiary of an invitation from the Federation . In the next round Darderi will face Andrea Pellegrino, who beat Giovanni Fonio 6-3 7-5 to access the round of 16. In the main draw thanks to the wild card received from the organization, the number 5 seed Fognini prevailed over Enrico Dalla Valle with a score of 6-1 1-6 6-1 and will face Matteo for a place in the quarterfinals Gigante, who eliminated Samuel Vincent Ruggeri with a score of 7-5 6-3.
The title race couldn’t have started better than the number one on the scoreboard, Luciano Darderi. At the third participation in the City of Perugia Tennis Internationals | GIMa. Tennis Cup, where in 2022 he reached the semi-finals, the world number 41 defeated the seventeen-year-old from Palermo Federico Cinà with a score of 6-3 6-0, who despite the result showed off great tennis, earning the compliments of the ‘opponent. “Federico is already a great player and has a bright future ahead of him. I wish him the best – the words at the end of the match from Darderi, who can be said to be satisfied with his debut -. I’m very happy with my performance, I’ve grown a lot but the season is still long. I still can’t believe I get to play in the Olympics.” Luciano will be one of four players, along with Jannik Sinner, Matteo Arnaldi and Lorenzo Musetti, who will represent Italy at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and is aiming to do well in the Umbrian capital before focusing on the grass season. In the round of 16 he will find Andrea Pellegrino on the other side of the net, who defeated Giovanni Fonio 6-3 7-5 at the start of the program: “I know him, he is a friend and he plays very well. I look my way and I want to continue like this. This year I started as world number 140, I gained positions in the rankings and also a lot of confidence.”
A conclusion to the day to remember. With the sound of magic, Fabio Fognini secures the pass to the quarter-finals of the ATP Challenger 125 organized by MEF Tennis Events. The Ligurian tennis player, former world number 9, beat Enrico Dalla Valle with a score of 6-1 1-6 6-1 after almost two hours of battle. For Fognini it will be a challenge in the round of 16 with Matteo Gigante, who in the first round got the better of Samuel Vincent Ruggeri 7-5 6-3: “I have to thank this crowd who gave me a great hand – Fognini’s words -. I arrived in town yesterday. At this moment in my career at 37 years old, family is my priority, but playing in front of the Italian public is always incredible. Now I will have the rest day and I hope to make the most of it.”
Results for Tuesday 11 June
1st round
Luciano Darderi (1) b. Federico Cinà (WC) 6-3 6-0
Andrea Pellegrino b. Giovanni Fonio (Q) 6-3 7-5
Matteo Gigante b. Samuel Vincent Ruggeri (Q) 7-5 6-3
Fabio Fognini (5) b. Enrico Dalla Valle 6-1 1-6 6-1
Daniel Altmaier (4) b. Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo 6-2 6-3
Stefano Travaglia b. Chun Hsin Tseng 6-4 6-1
Franco Agamemone b. Giovanni Oradini (Q) 6-3 2-6 6-3
Sumit Nagal (6) b. Nerman Fatic 7-6(1) 6-2
Alessandro Giannessi (Q) b. Egor Gerasimov 6-4 6-2
Bernabe Zapata Miralles b. Francisco Comesana (7) 6-2 6-1
Federico Arnaboldi (Q) b. Gianluca Mager (LL) 7-6(5) 7-5
Jesper De Jong b. Riccardo Bonadio (Q) 7-5 7-5
