Lorenzo Musetti (right), Luciano Darderi and Simone Tartarini (coach Musetti) during the tasting of typical dishes of Cagliari cuisine (photo Francesco Panunzio)
After the handshake that ended his match with Fabio Fognini, Federico Coria opened his bag and took out his phone to take a photo of the Centrale grandstand of the Tennis Club Cagliari, which was filled to capacity. A snapshot that perfectly tells the story of Wednesday’s Sardinia Open, a premium event in the ATP Challenger 175 category, with 205,000 euros in prize money. A day, dedicated to the last 10 first round matches, which was packed with both spectators (sold out) and enthusiasm, even if – while waiting for Lorenzo Sonego, busy in the evening – the warmth of the people did not bring luck to the Italian players, with three eliminations. Two were brought about by physical problems on the Central team: first it was the turn of Giulio Zeppieri, who threw in the towel due to a hip problem when the score of the match against Marton Fucsovics read 7-5 4-0 for the Hungarian; while later it was Fabio Fognini who surrendered to his problems (and regrets). Because in the first set of the match against Coria the Ligurian managed to lead 5-3 and serve, showing his usual enchanting tennis, but he was unable to close the set and then immediately took the initiative of his rival, who took it back and passed in the tie-break. Then, one game after requesting the intervention of the physiotherapist at 1-2 in the second set, the Italian raised the white flag due to a problem in his left calf. “Winning like this is never nice – said Coria, younger brother of former ATP n.3 Guillermo, in Italian – but I’m happy with the first set. It was a great fight.” Having beaten Fognini, there is another former top-10 for him on Thursday, the favorite Frances Tiafoe. “Finding two people like that in the first two rounds of a Challenger is not normal. It makes you understand the level of the tournament. Just as it’s not normal to play in front of all this crowd. I’ll wait for you tomorrow: to win I need you.”
On Court 12, whose program started late due to the rain that fell during the night, Pisa’s Francesco Maestrelli (wild card) left the stage and was beaten 6-3 7-5 by the Portuguese Nuno Borges. In the other matches, worth mentioning is the beautiful victory of the Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochuzuki, who eliminated the German Daniel Altmaier, and that of Daniel Elahi Galan, semi-finalist in Sardinia twelve months ago. The Colombian came within two points of defeat against Radu Albot, then recovered to win 2-6 7-6 6-4. Juan Manuel Cerundolo is also ahead among the qualifiers: the Argentinian member of Tc Cagliari defeated the Canadian Diallo and will be Lorenzo Musetti’s first opponent in Monte Urpinu, who participated in the morning with coach Tartarini and the other Italian Luciano Darderi in a tasting of typical Sardinian products, organized for them by the Tennis Club. Musetti has already been able to taste the affection of the public for days, receiving (and granting) repeated requests for photos and autographs from dozens and dozens of kids . Now, for the Tuscan, it’s time to get serious on the pitch. He will make his debut on Thursday in the second match from 12pm, against Centrale, after Darderi-Ugo Carabelli. At 11am the start on the other two fields. Further information on the website www.sardegnaopen.com and on the Instagram page @sardegnaopen.
CENTRAL – Italian time: 12:00 (local time: 12:00)
1. [Alt] Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs [8] Luciano Darderi
2. [Q] Juan Manuel Cerundolo 
vs [2] Lorenzo Musetti 
3. [Alt] Emilio Nava vs Alex Michelsen 
OR [5] Lorenzo Sonego
4. [1/WC] Frances Tiafoe vs Federico Coria
FIELD 14 – Italian time: 11:00 (local time: 11:00 am)
1. [6] Marton Fucsovics vs [Alt] Zachary Svajda
2. Daniel Elahi Galan vs [4] Christopher Eubanks (not before 1pm)
3. [3] Mariano Navone vs [Q] Shintaro Mochizuki
4. Luciano Darderi / Thiago Agustin Tirante OR [PR] N. Sriram Balaji / Andre Begemann vs [WC] Niccolo Dessi / Alberto Sanna OR [3] Yuki Bhambri 
/ Francisco Cabral
FIELD 2 – Italian time: 11:00 (local time: 11:00 am)
1. Petr Nouza / Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela vs [WC] Francesco Maestrelli / Francesco Passaro
2. [1] Julian Cash / Robert Galloway vs. Evan King / Orlando Luz
3. [7] Nuno Borges 
vs Yoshihito Nishioka 
4. Radu Albot / Andrea Pellegrino vs [2] Alexander Erler / Lucas Miedler 
RESULTS
Singular. First round: Marton Fucsovics (Hun) b. Giulio Zeppieri (Ita) 7-5 4-0 retirement, Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Arg) b. Gabriel Diallo (Can) 6-0 7-6, Zachary Svajda (USA) b. Zsombor Piros (Hun) 7-6 6-0, Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn) b. Daniel Altmaier (Ger) 6-4 1-6 6-3, Camilo Ugo Carabelli (Arg) b. Taro Daniel (Jpn) 6-3 6-4, Nuno Borges (Por) b. Francesco Maestrelli (Ita) 6-3 7-5, Federico Coria (Arg) b. Fabio Fognini (Ita) 7-6 3-1 retirement, Daniel Elahi Galan (Col) b. Radu Albot (Mda) 2-6 7-6 6-4, Emilio Nava (USA) b. Jesper De Jong (Ned) 6-1 6-3. To be completed: Alex Michelsen (USA) vs Lorenzo Sonego (Ita).
