GUIA DE ISORA/STARNBERG, February 29, 2024
Italian Matteo Gigante continues his excellent run of form on the Canary Islands by reaching the quarterfinals of the Tenerife Challenger 3. The No. 6 seed of the ATP Challenger Tour hard-court event, who captured the title at the Abama Tennis Academy in Guia de Isora last week, rallied from a set down to outlast US-American lucky loser Mitchell Krueger in Wednesday’s second round.
Gigante struck six aces, won 69 per cent of his first-service points and won one point more to seal a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory in two hours and 31 minutes.
“It’s been one of the best matches of my life so far. At the beginning, I was a bit angry and tense, in the second set I saved break points to avoid going down 5-3, and I got back into it. Honestly, I didn’t think I would still be in the tournament,” said Gigante.
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“I thank my team, who played an even more important role today,” the 22-year-old told his coach Marco Gulisano, FITP coach Gabrio Castrichella, and FITP physiotherapist Giacomo Remondina. “At the start, they were much more fired up than me, and when I changed course, I thought of wanting to win for them. Now it will be important to recover ahead of Friday.”
Gigante will now enjoy a day of rest before he faces Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas.
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Singles – Second Round
Martin Damm b. Filip Misolic 4-6 6-3 7-5Matteo Gigante (6) b. Mitchell Krueger (LL) 4-6 6-3 7-6(4)Alejandro Moro Canas (Q) b. Jules Marie 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3
Yunchaokete Bu (5) b. Jozef Kovalik 6-4 6-4
📆 Order of Play | Thursday 29 February
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