ORTISEI/STARNBERG, October 26, 2022
Third-seeded Luca Nardi of Italy booked his spot in the quarterfinals of the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol. The 19-year-old wild card entry defeated Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia 6-0, 6-4 in the second round on Wednesday.
Nardi, who already captured three titles on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, won 78 per cent of his first-service points and 59 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in one hour and 13 minutes.
“I played very well, especially in the first set. After that, he got better, but I am already satisfied with how I played,” said Nardi. The World No. 131 will next take on Lukas Klein of Slovakia, who benefited from retirement of Nerman Fatic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading 6-3, 2-2.
Giulio Zeppieri, another home hope competing this week at the Tennis Club Ortisei, has also reached the stage of the last eight. The 20-year-old Italian beat his compatriot and wild card entry Stefano Travaglia 6-3, 6-2. The No. 5 seed sent down seven aces and won 73 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and five minutes.
“It was a difficult match in which I always tried to play my game. Stefano is a strong opponent, if you let him play his game,” said Zeppieri, who will next take on Croatia’s Borna Gojo, a 7-6(3), 6-2 winner over Yannick Hanfmann from Germany in one hour and 27 minutes.
