PARMA, May 26, 2021 (by Lorenzo Carini)
Wednesday was a day full of emotions at the Emilia-Romagna Open – Mutti Cup with all second-round matches played at the Tennis Club President in Parma, Italy.
Sonego, Paire and Ramos-Vinolas fall
The top three seeds of the ATP 250 clay-court event were toppled in short order in their opening matches with No. 1 seed Lorenzo Sonego leading the exit. The World No. 28 fell to rising American star Sebastian Korda 6-1, 7-5, who is now 2-0 against Italian players in this tournament, as he defeated Andreas Seppi in the first round.
“I feel very good here in Parma, Sonego is a very tough opponent. It has been an incredible win: I hope to win the title,” Korda said during his on-court interview.
Fuori la testa di serie n. 1 Lorenzo #Sonego per mano di @SebiKorda 🥊
Il suo prossimo obiettivo: il titolo! 🤪#EmiliaRomagnaOpen | #MuttiCup pic.twitter.com/tqeaVlk5kh
— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) May 26, 2021
Korda’s next opponent will be No. 8 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who knocked out #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-2. “What a marathon! It’s not easy to play in Italy against an Italian player, everybody wanted Musetti to win today. I’m sorry for that, he’s still young and I think he will have a wonderful future,” Nishioka said.
No. 2 seed Benoit Paire, who had a record of two wins and 13 losses in 2021 before today’s match, retired during the second set against Spaniard Jaume Munar, trailing 7-5, 3-1, due to illness. Third favourite Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain lost in three sets to Slovakian lucky loser Norbert Gombos 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, who will be playing his sixth ATP quarterfinal and is seeking his first semifinal appearance against Marco Cecchinato. The Italian defeated Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia 7-5, 6-2.
Struff and Gasquet advance
In other action, Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany and No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet of France both needed three sets to overcome Italian wildcard Flavio Cobolli (6-4, 4-6, 7-6) and Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez (6-3, 3-6, 6-3) respectively. No. 4 seed Struff will next face American Tommy Paul. Gasquet will play against Jaume Munar from Spain.
SINGLES R2 – RESULTS
Sebastian Korda (USA) d. [1] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-1 7-5
[8] Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) d. Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 6-3 6-2
[4] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) d. [WC] Flavio Cobolli (ITA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(2)
[6] Tommy Paul (USA) d. Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-3
[WC] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) d. [7] Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 7-5 6-2
[LL] Norbert Gombos (SVK) d. [3] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2
[5] Richard Gasquet (FRA) d. [Q] Pedro Martinez (ESP) 6-3 3-6 6-3
Jaume Munar (ESP) d. [2] Benoit Paire (FRA) 7-5 3-1 Ret.
DOUBLES R1 – RESULTS
[1] Sander Gille (BEL)/Joran Vliegen (BEL) d. [WC] Francesco Passaro (ITA)/Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 7-6(5) 6-4
Roman Jebavy (CZE)/Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) d. [WC] David Marrero (ESP)/David Vega Hernandez (ESP) 6-7(3) 6-2 10-6
Simone Bolelli (ITA)/Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) d. [3] Marcus Daniell (NZL)/Philipp Oswald (AUT) 6-2 6-4
Max Purcell (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) d. Marco Cecchinato (ITA)/Andreas Seppi (ITA) 7-6(5) 6-4
[4] Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/Matwe Middelkoop (NED) d. Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 6-4 7-6(4)
Matt Reid (AUS)/Michael Venus (NZL) d. Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/Jackson Withrow (USA) 7-6(7) 6-3
Oliver Marach (AUT)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) d. [2] Raven Klaasen (RSA)/Ben McLachlan (JPN) 6-3 6-4
