Matteo Berrettini does not betray against Ilya Ivashka and flies for the first time in his career to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. Say goodbye to the All England Club instead Lorenzo Sonego, who fails in the enterprise to stop Roger Federer’s race, who after a balanced first set changes gears and extends the blue in three sets. The traditional “Manic Monday” of Wimbledon, the day that presents all the round of 16 on the draw, is staged for the last time (from next year there will be no more days without matches, including Sunday) and does not offer great surprises, apart from the thud of Alexander Zverev, beaten in the fifth set by the young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Match from which the opponent of Berrettini, who after having dominated against the Belarusian rival, overwhelmed 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 in less than two hours of play, can daydream even a place in the semifinals. The Roman player played a solid game, showing a certain confidence even at goal. «The tension was there, I felt from the first point of being superior – he said – It is never easy to manage these things. I was good at doing the things I like to do ». The blue hit the break already in the third game and, after having stretched 3-1 with some apprehension, he closed the first set 6-4 without ever losing the serve. In the second set Berrettini immediately broke Ivashka’s serve (0-2), and then repeated himself in the fifth game (1-4). After an empty pass, Matteo did not waste any further by taking 6-3, a prelude to a third set as an absolute dominator. The Roman finished with 36 winners compared to 25 free (16 to 16 Ivashka’s budget). After 23 years there is again a blue among the top eight at Wimbledon. Berrettini thus becomes the fifth Italian in history to win a place among the best eight at “The Championships” after Uberto de Morpurgo (1928), Nicola Pietrangeli (twice: in 1955 and in 1960 when he then reached the semifinals), Adriano Panatta ( 1979) and Davide Sanguinetti (1998).
The company failed instead a Sonego, who stayed in the game against the living tennis legend for a set and a half. The interruption due to rain – and the forced break of about twenty minutes necessary to activate the coverage of the Central – removed the Piedmontese player from the game, who at the resumption of the match, in a balanced situation, committed a double foul that gave the 6-5 to Federer, who subsequently administered in the second set (6-4) and spread in the third set (6-2). “I’m very happy, the conditions weren’t easy – the Swiss said hotly – I’m happy to have checked the situation in the first set against Lorenzo”. Federer lands in Wimbledon quarterfinals for the 18th time in his career. Next opponent Hurkacz or Medvedev, in the only match suspended and not finished due to bad weather. The champion from Basel, on the hunt for his ninth triumph on the London grass fields, will be able to take advantage of an extra day of rest, but he will surely find himself facing an opponent of caliber.