Berrettini accelerates the pace in Stockholm | ATP Tour

Stockholm

Berrettini accelerates the pace in Stockholm

Lorenzo Sonego also advanced and in the 2nd round he will face Casper Ruud

October 14, 2024

Matteo Berrettini achieved his fastest victory of the year on fast tracks this Monday. It was against his compatriot Luciano Darderi and after winning with sets of 6-4, 6-3 in 77 minutes to advance to the second round of the BNP Paribas Nordic Open.

“I think I played a solid game. Although we are both Italian, we had never faced each other, so I didn’t know what to expect,” said Berrettini, No. 42 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “It’s my first time here in Stockholm, so there are new things, but I think my attitude was really good. “The more I played, the better I felt.”

His only moment of crisis in the match came at 2-2, when he could not save the only break point he faced with his serve in the match. However, it prevented him from confirming the break to his rival, No. 44 in the rankings, and, from then on, he did not find any major difficulties in adding his 28th victory of the season.

Now the 28-year-old right-hander has a perfect 17-0 record against opponents with a lower ranking than him this season. His last defeat in these circumstances was in Stuttgart 2023, when he was No. 23 and fell to his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego, then No. 41 in the rankings.

In the next round in Stockholm he could increase this undefeated record when he faces the Swiss Dominic Stricker, current No. 317 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and who has just beaten the American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

In other results of the day, the seventh seed in the indoor ATP 250, the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor, beat Pavel Kotov 6-4, 6-3. With his victory in one hour and 12 minutes, he moved to 9-2 in first-round matches on hard courts this year. Now he will have to face the Frenchman Corentin Moutet or the British Jacob Fearnley.

In addition, Sonego defeated the Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-6(1), 7-5 to set up a second-round duel with the Norwegian Casper Ruud, the second seed in the tournament. Ruud, No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings, leads the Lexus ATP HeadToHead with Sonego 4-0.