Matteo Arnaldi prevails over Arthur Fils in five sets to reach his first third round in a Slam. Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner dominated Sonego in an all-Italian clash.
It was 22-year-old Matteo Arnaldi, who achieved the greatest feat of the day for Italian tennis. Winning a five-set battle, the first five-setter of his career, against Arthur Fils, the French rising talent. Is this going to become his signature match?
“I couldn’t wait to play my first five-set match …I was almost happy to have lost the fourth,” he said, smiling, in his post-match press conference. “I enjoyed it to the very end. Five-set matches allow you to play with greater tranquillity, even if you lose one or two sets, you can still swing the momentum. I consider myself pretty strong physically and I’m very happy when it turns out to be a long match.“
After a first set in which he was overwhelmed by his opponent, Arnaldi gradually succeeded in. Defusing Fils’s superior power and eliciting more and more errors. Excellent pressuring from the baseline and better first serve stats, as well as abrupt forays to the net were key for him to nose ahead in the crucial moments of the second and third sets, which he won 75 and 76. The fourth set was just as close, with both players setting up and missing chances, but Arnaldi suddenly surrendered it in the twelfth game with a double fault.
Instead of grabbing the momentum, Fils stumbled over two double faults and an unforced error, conceding a fatal break in the opening game of the decider. Arnaldi broke again in the set and rose to a 41 lead. Fils immediately bounced back, recovering one break, but in spite of hitting some remarkable winners never succeeded in closing the whole gap. Serving for the match at 5-4, Arnaldi didn’t falter and reached his first ever third round in a slam.
“With Arthur it’s always a battle,” he said. “We had already played a great match in Madrid. He serves well and is a very complete player but he has many highs and lows as well and sometimes gives games away. I did my best to be consistent and to make a difference in the key points.“
A marathon match can leave a player drained of energy. Not Matteo Arnaldi.
“I’m ready. I could step on court right now. Even though I’m going to eat a nice carbonara. I’m playing very well and this is a great boost for my self-confidence. I still feel lots of energy.” He stated.
He will be up against Cameron Norrie in the round of 32. The Brit will have to perform at his best to tame such a fired-up player.
Sinner beats Lorenzo Sonego 64 62 64
You have to feel for Lorenzo Sonego. This is the second slam in a row he has been ousted by an Italian player. Is losing to fellow countrymen and friends less painful? At Wimbledon, first round, it was Matteo Berrettini, on a day in which the 2021 Wimbledon finalist retrieved his best form. This time it was Jannik Sinner, keen to prove he is one of the pretenders to the title, regardless of all the buzz pivoting around a renewed Alcaraz -Djokovic duel. Sinner had won all his previous nine encounters against Italian players.
Sinner took over the match from the very start, snatching a break in the third game, and taking full advantage of two forehand misses of his opponent. Sonego was close to setting up a chance to break back when Sinner was serving for the first set, but he overhit an inside-out forehand.
After pocketing the first set Sinner broke immediately in the second set and raced on to a comfortable 64 62 lead.
The match was never to become a battle. Sinner earned a break in the third game of the third set. The public enjoyed some entertainment though, because from then on the players staged a performance in Harlem Globetrotters style, featuring, among others, a tweener by Sonego and a one-footed slam dunk smash by Sinner, which Sonego tried to countersmash.
Sinner was delighted with his performance: “I played with the right approach, I’m very satisfied with the way I started and the level I kept, consistent and with high intensity. I also returned serve better than in my first match. I try to come to the net more often, an aspect of my game I’m working at very hard. It’s not easy to pick the best approach shot but now I feel much more confident and go to the net with a different mindset.“
