PARMA, May 23, 2021 (by Lorenzo Carini)

The second day of the Emilia-Romagna Open – Mutti Cup came to an end after almost eight hours of play at the Tennis Club Parma, featuring the first two matches of the main draw as well as the conclusion of qualifying.

Flavio Cobolli is on fire

Italian wild card Flavio Cobolli took center stage by celebrating a successful debut on the ATP Tour. The 19-year-old from Rome defeated World No. 92 Marcos Giron of the United States 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in two hours and 34 minutes to advance to the second round, where he will play fourth seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.

Cobolli, son of former tennis professional Stefano Cobolli and a winner of an ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event in Antalya last month, wasted three match points on serve at 5-4 in the final set and then needed to save three match points in the 11th game.

Un #Cobolli esausto intervistato subito dopo il match vinto 76 al terzo 💪#EmiliaRomagnaOpen | #MuttiCup pic.twitter.com/gePxVRfr0t

— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) May 23, 2021

“I could only win my first match at ATP level this way,” Cobolli said. “It was a swing of emotions, certainly I could have done better at 5-3 and serve it out in the third set, but that’s okay. I dedicate this success to the Rome Tennis Academy and to Matilde, my girlfriend.”

After his win, Cobolli is projected to reach a new career-high World No. 429 when the new ATP Rankings are released on Monday.

First ATP main draw for Brancaccio

While local favourite Stefano Travaglia lost his first-round match against No. 6 seed Tommy Paul from the United States 7-5, 6-4, Italian wild card entry Raul Brancaccio secured his first appearance in an ATP Tour main draw with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in the final round of the qualifying. The 24-year-old from Torre del Greco, Naples, will play against compatriot Marco Cecchinato in his ATP debut.

Martinez survives marathon, Ymer and Altmaier also advance

In other qualifying action, Spaniard Pedro Martinez emerged victorious from a marathon match with Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, winning 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) after more than two and a half hours on Grandstand. Mikael Ymer and Daniel Altmaier also advanced to the main draw. The 22-year-old from Sweden beat Matteo Viola of Italy 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 while the German defeated Norbert Gombos 7-6(6), 7-6(8). The Slovakian, top seed of the qualifying, will enter the main draw as lucky loser following the retirement of American Frances Tiafoe.

SINGLES Q2 – RESULTS
[7] Daniel Altmaier (GER) d. [1] Norbert Gombos (SVK) 7-6(6) 7-6(8)
[WC] Raul Brancaccio (ITA) d. Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-3 6-3
[3] Pedro Martinez (ESP) d. [5] Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) 6-4 5-7 7-6(4)
[4] Mikael Ymer (SWE) d. [8] Matteo Viola (ITA) 6-4 3-6 6-0

SINGLES R1 – RESULTS
[WC] Flavio Cobolli (ITA) d. Marcos Giron (USA) 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(4)
[6] Tommy Paul (USA) d. Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 7-5 6-4

DOUBLES R1 – RESULTS
Romain Arneodo (MON)/Benoit Paire (FRA) d. Nicholas Monroe (USA)/Sam Querrey (USA) 7-6(4) 6-4