TODI/STARNBERG, August 14, 2026
Francesco Passaro continued his impressive run at the Internazionali di Tennis Città di Todi | Sidernestor Tennis Cup on Thursday, booking his place in the quarterfinals with a commanding 6-4, 6-1 victory over Oriol Roca Batalla.
The sixth seed followed up his hard-fought opening-round win over fellow Italian Carlo Alberto Caniato with another strong performance. Recently returned from a wrist injury, the former Top 100 player is showing promising signs as he looks to build momentum for the second half of the season.
“Keeping this level will be important if I want to continue having a good tournament and build a strong second half of the season,” Passaro said. “Winning in two sets was important today.”
The home favourite delighted the crowd at Tennis Club Todi 1971, combining his trademark intensity with a controlled performance against Roca Batalla. For Passaro, playing in front of his home crowd adds extra motivation.
“The goal is always to win matches,” he said. “Here at home, even more so. In Todi and Umbria, I definitely have some extra motivation compared to the Challengers I have played over the past few months.”
Passaro will face Nicolas Kicker in the quarterfinals. The Argentine, a two-time Todi finalist in 2015 and 2022, booked his place in the last eight with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Thomas Faurel after previously eliminating top seed Stefano Travaglia.
Kicker lost the Todi finals in 2015 and 2022 to Aljaz Bedene and Pedro Cachin respectively, but will now be looking to spoil the home crowd’s hopes by knocking out their favourite.
Mrva learning from Sinner
Another player attracting plenty of attention in Todi is Maxim Mrva. The 18-year-old Czech, a former No. 2 junior in the world, has impressed with his explosive game and fearless personality.
“I can be a little crazy sometimes, but I think that can be a positive thing in tennis. I let my emotions out when I play,” Mrva said.
After defeating Pierluigi Basile and Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo in three sets, Mrva has earned a quarterfinal meeting with fourth seed Federico Agustin Gomez on Friday.
“I feel comfortable on clay in Italy,” Mrva said. “I am also enjoying myself here in Todi and I like the way the tournament is organised. Although it is really hot!”
Mrva also revealed that he is still working on his mental game. “After the match, I joked that I have a great mentality,” he said with a laugh. “At the moment, I wouldn’t say I am mentally strong, but I am working on it. Everyone in tennis has difficulties keeping their head in the right place.”
The Czech teenager has already had the opportunity to learn from the very best. At last year’s ATP Finals in Turin, Mrva was selected as an official practice partner and spent almost two weeks training alongside Jannik Sinner.
“We are still very far apart,” Mrva said with a smile. “When we trained in Turin, he was super nice and gave me some great advice. But he comes from another planet.”
Mrva knows there is still plenty of room for improvement. “I can improve everything in my tennis – my shots and my mentality. That’s why I work.”
Quarterfinal line-up
On Friday, the action on Centre Court begins at 3 p.m. local time with Mrva taking on Gomez, followed by a 5:30 p.m. clash between former champion Marco Cecchinato and Juan Bautista Torres.
On Grandstand, second seed Lukas Neumayer will face Alex Barrena. Neumayer recovered from a set down to defeat Pawel Michalski 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, while Barrena advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Andrea Picchione.
📌 Order of play • Friday August 14#tennis #InternazionaliTodi #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/YijYxaZSjN
— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) August 13, 2026
