TURIN – In Turin the rain was expected and arrived promptly around 2.30pm, forcing the organizers of the Piedmont Open Intesa Sanpaolo to stop and then cancel Tuesday’s program of the premium event of the ATP Challenger 175 category. But before the bad weather on the courts of the Circolo della Stampa Sporting there were a few hours of (good) tennis, enough to allow the Argentine Federico Coria to win the first match of the main draw, in a three-set battle against the Austrian left-handed Jurij Rodionov. On the clay of the fascinating Campo Stadio it ended 6-3 4-6 6-2 for the 32 year old from Rosario, younger brother of Guillermo who in 2004 reached the final at Roland Garros and was number 3 in the ATP world rankings.
Repeating certain goals will be very difficult for the youngest player at home, while in the Turin week the South American can try to follow in the footsteps of his coach Carlos Berlocq (with him in Piedmont), who won the first of his 19 at Sporting in 2005 Challenger titles, repeating themselves in 2007 and 2011. However, in the second round Coria will find one of the favorites for the title waiting for him, namely the host Lorenzo Sonego, fourth seed. Just as the Argentine was fighting on the Centrale to earn their match on Thursday, the Turin native trained for an hour and a half at high intensity with the other Lorenzo of Italian tennis, Musetti, in front of the eyes of many curious spectators who remained for a long time standing in the driveway between courts 3 and 4 of the club, to watch the two greatest expected of the tournament.
Tuesday was also supposed to be the day intended for the conclusion of the qualifiers, but it proved to be only partially so with two matches finished and two just started. In the first round there was room for Italian satisfaction thanks to Mattia Bellucci, who earned a place in the main draw by coming from behind to win a spectacular duel against the Canadian Alexis Galarneau, tamed 6-7 6-3 6-2.
A precious victory for the Varese native born in 2001, who hadn’t played on clay since last July. Initially the Piedmont Open Intesa Sanpaolo was not among his plans, and – in his words – when he ended up down a break at the start of the second set he had the feeling that his Turin experience was coming to an end. But he didn’t give up and from there he built the comeback, completed after 2 hours and 44 minutes. On the contrary, however, the all-left-handed challenge between Giulio Zeppieri and the Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler: it was the player from Latina who took the first set and had a chance in the second, but the Swiss went to the main draw, score for 4-6 7-6 6-1.
Speaking of main draw: an abdominal problem forced Flavio Cobolli, number 5 seeded, to withdraw. In his place a lucky loser. A super intense program on Wednesday at the Circolo della Stampa Sporting, with 16 matches between qualifiers and the main draw of singles and doubles. We start at 11, on 4 fields. Passaro-Galan opens on the Stadium Field, then the continuation of the German derby Hanfmann-Marterer (suspended at 6-4 0-1), then Darderi-Ugo Carabelli. To close, not before 6pm, the debut of Fabio Fognini, against a qualified or lucky loser. Further information on the website www.piemonteopen.com and on the Instagram page @piemonteopen.
RESULTS
Singular. First round: Federico Coria (Arg) b. Juiij Rodionov (Auth) 6-3 4-6 6-2.
Qualifications. Decisive round: Mattia Bellucci (Ita) b. Alexis Galarneau (Can) 6-7 6-3 6-2, Marc-Andrea Huesler (Sui) b. Giulio Zeppieri (Ita) 4-6 7-6 6-1.
