Matteo Berrettini’s journey in Halle begins well. After the final lost in Stuttgart, the 28-year-old Roman beat the American Alex Michelsen in straight sets on his debut, albeit twenty-four hours late, with a score of 7-6(5) 6-2, qualifying for the second round of the ATP 500 German. For Berrettini, who had already played in a semi-final in Halle in 2019, his success coincided with his fiftieth career victory on grass. He will look for the fifty-first against another American, Marcus Giron, winner of the only previous match played in his career four years ago in the Masters1000 in Bercy.
Sinner also wins in doubles
Waiting to return to the court in the singles round of 16 against Fábián Marozsán, Jannik Sinner also wins in doubles: the world no.1 with his friend Hubert Hurkacz beat the Americans Lammons and Withrow on their debut, seeded number 3 in threes set with the score of 6-4 5-7 11-9. In the next round they will face the French Reboul and Doumbia.
Darderi surrenders to German Jan-Lennard Struff
However, there was nothing to be done for Mattia Darderi who surrendered by just two points, in the tie break of the third set, with the German Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round of the German tournament. The 22-year-old Italian-Argentine, n.34 ATP, lost 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, after a battle lasting over two and a half hours. Darderi did not take advantage of a break advantage in the decisive set and missed a match point at 8-7 in the tie-break, which ended at 12-10 for the German. Struff passes on the tenth match point and in the round of 16 he will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, n.11 in the ranking and sixth seeding favourite. Bitter grass, that of Queen’s, also for Matteo Arnaldi who bids farewell to the tournament in the round of 16, eliminated by the Australian Rinki Hijikata in two sets with the score of 7-6(0) 7-6(7): a match resolved in ties -break, with Arnaldi able to cancel five match points before surrendering to the Australian.
Cocciaretto flies to the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 British
In Birmingham, on the other hand, Elisabetta Cocciaretto smiles, having secured her pass to the quarter-finals of the British WTA 250: the 23-year-old from Fermo, n.44 in the ranking, fresh from the round of 16 at Roland Garros (the first in a Slam), protagonist at the debut of the elimination of the Latvian Ostapenko, n.13 in the ranking and first seeding favourite, she beat the American Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-2 in the second round. “Having eliminated the top seed of the tournament on my debut gave me a lot of confidence. It’s only my third tournament in my career on this surface but I like playing on grass” said the Italian.
