ANDRIA, November 25, 2016
Matteo Berrettini was the man of the day on quarterfinals Friday at the €42,500 Andria E Castel Del Monte Challenger, held at the local Palasport Arena.
Berrettini, who is competing in his only sixth ATP Challenger event in 2016, knocked out second seed Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland in the second round and now defeated former World No. 5 Tommy Robredo from Spain 6-4, 7-6. The 20-year-old wild card sent down 11 aces, winning 95 per cent of his first service points. Berrettini didn’t face a break point, converting one of his own to reach his first ever semi-final on the ATP Challenger Tour after one hour and 21 minutes.
He will next take on Egor Gerasimov, who knocked out the tournament’s number three Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, rallying 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The 24-year-old from Belarus withstood 15 aces from the teenager, broke serve two times and won two points more than his opponent to seal victory in one hour and 52 minutes.
Top seed Sergiy Stakhovsky defeated Italian wild card Stefano Travaglia 6-4, 6-3 in 71 minutes to set a semi-final clash with fourth favourite Luca Vanni. The 31-year-old from Italy fought past the tournament’s number five Aldin Setkic from Bosnia and Herzegovia, winning 7-6, 7-6. In a match without any breaks, Vanni fired 27 aces and won 51 per cent of the total points played to prevail in one hour and 56 minutes.