SAN MARINO/STARNBERG, July 29, 2026

Home favorite Marco Cecchinato saw his campaign at the Internazionali di Tennis San Marino Open come to an end on Thursday, as the 2013 champion was edged out by fifth seed Alexandre Muller in a gripping second-round encounter at the ATP Challenger 125 event.

Roared on by the Centre Court crowd at the Centro Cassa di Risparmio di Fonte dell’Ovo, the 33-year-old Italian produced an inspired performance but eventually fell 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 after two hours and 10 minutes. Muller, the 2024 San Marino champion, moves into the quarterfinals after also defeating Stefano Napolitano in the opening round.

Playing their first meeting on the ATP Challenger Tour, Cecchinato struck first by claiming the opening set with aggressive baseline tennis and a decisive late break. Muller, however, responded immediately, racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set before leveling the match with another break.

The deciding set delivered plenty of drama. Cecchinato broke early but was pegged back straight away and later missed several opportunities to regain the advantage. Muller twice came within two points of victory before the Italian fought back to level at 5-5. In a tense finale, Cecchinato saved two match points and had three chances to force a deciding tie-break, but the Frenchman converted his third match point to seal victory.

HOW did Alexandre Muller get to that ball?! 🤯#ATPChallenger | @Alex2Mumu pic.twitter.com/o9Y3jrZdob

— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) July 29, 2026

Muller will next face Croatian qualifier Mili Poljicak, who produced one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by eliminating fourth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-4. The former Wimbledon junior champion battled back after narrowly losing a dramatic first-set tie-break and capitalized on a series of momentum swings in the deciding set to complete the comeback after nearly two hours and 45 minutes.

The all-Bolivian clash between Juan Carlos Prado Angelo and seventh seed Hugo Dellien ended prematurely. Prado Angelo claimed a tightly contested opening-set tie-break before Dellien was forced to retire with an injury to his right Achilles tendon. The 21-year-old, a former Roland Garros junior finalist and junior world No. 1, advances to the quarterfinals, where he will face either top seed Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina or Italy’s Francesco Forti.

WEDNESDAY RESULTS

Singles – Second Round

Alexandre Muller (France, No. 5) def. Marco Cecchinato (Italy) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5

Juan Carlos Prado Angelo (Bolivia) def. Hugo Dellien (Bolivia, No. 7) 7-6(4), retired

Mili Poljicak (Croatia, qualifier) def. Nikoloz Basilashvili (Georgia, No. 4) 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-4

Doubles – First Round

Petr Nouza / Neil Oberleitner (Czech Republic / Austria, No. 1) def. Alexandru Jecan / Bogdan Pavel (Romania) 7-5, 6-4

Arthur Reymond / Luca Sanchez (France) def. Sergio Martos Gornes / Szymon Walkow (Spain / Poland) 6-7(6), 7-5, 12-10

Thijmen Loof / Kaito Uesugi (Netherlands / Japan) def. Sander Gillé / Sem Verbeek (Belgium / Netherlands, No. 4) 7-5, 6-4