That’s the beauty of Davis: the forecasts, for the blues, said it would be tough with the United States and a walk with Colombia. Instead, access to the quarterfinals on Monday came by overtaking the US without too many worries and suffering with the Colombians yesterday, well beyond expectations. Lorenzo Sonego beat Nicolas Mejia, 275 of the world, in three sets, losing the first 7-6, defending the break grabbed in the second set closed 6-4, and bringing home the match to the third 6-2. As he immediately said at the end of the game, certainly Mejia’s position in the standings is a liar, and in fact the 21-year-old from Bogotà has shown that he is a respectable player, with a good serve and, on his side, the possibility of playing without having nothing to lose against 27 in the ranking.
Sonego was in the opposite condition, he suffered from the tension that led him to be foul (26 free errors) and insecure for a long part of the match, then the victory in the second set gave him breath and in the third the road appeared. downhill. After the first point brought to Italy by the Turin player, Jannik Sinner’s success with Daniel Galan ensured the passage to the quarterfinals. It ended 7-5, 6-0. The first set was hard fought, in a succession of breaks and counter-breaks that didn’t allow either of them to take off.
Nothing to do with the tone of the match dominated by Sinner with Isner, the day before, at least until the beginning of the second set, during which the world number 10 made his power and quality felt, and for Galan ( 111th in the standings) there was nothing more to do. In the late evening, the most tenacious public who remained at the Pala Alpitour until late was able to have fun with the double that opposed Fognini and Sinner to the very strong Cabal-Farah, champions at Wimbledon two years ago. A game (irrelevant for Italy) ended 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 for the Colombians, after more than two and a half hours of struggle under the (finally relaxed) gaze of Captain Volandri.
The Azzurri canceled a match point in the second set and surrendered only after three more match points in the tie break in which they were ahead 3 to 0. At a quarter to three, this day ended also for the Italian team, which today rests and awaits his opponents in the quarter-finals, scheduled for Monday in Turin: most likely it will be the Croats, who only need one point today against Hungary.