Musetti, Sinner and Berrettini fly to the second round of Roland Garros. It hasn’t happened since 1962 that three of our players haven’t made it this far in the Grand Slam tournament. Two are still teenagers, Lorenzo Musetti and Sinner. And tomorrow you show off against two he will face Novak Djokovic, who by passing the round for the twelfth time in this one has achieved a record streak. The South Tyrolean, on the other hand, will have to try to make Rafa Nadal, 13 times King of Paris, abdicate. Odd three Italians was reached last night, thanks to the success of Matteo Berrettini (seeded n.9) on the South Korean Soonwoo Kwon for 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-4. In short, three Italians in the best 16 of Roland Garros is something that had never been seen in the era of open tennis.
The blues are amazing everyone. There is therefore a “golden generation of Italian tennis”, as an article in the New York Times also defined it on the eve of the third round of Roland Garros.
Pending school leaving, Musetti passed the tennis exam. He showed strong nerves and showed off some acrobatic shots already viral on social media (one behind his back at the net, the other with his back to the goal net) in the derby with Marco Cecchinato, ten years older, who imposed his own game in the first and third set, but in the last one he surrendered to the clarity of the Tuscan born in 2002. «It was a concentration of emotions that was not easy to manage. I want to enjoy this great victory for a while, then I’ll think about how to try to beat Djokovic. Above all, I will try to have fun, ”said Musetti, who previously played a five-set match and is the sixth player since 2000 to reach the round of 16 in his Grand Slam debut.
At the end of the tournament he will climb several positions in the world ranking (now he is at number 76), however the arduous confrontation with the Serbian number 1 in the world will end, who granted only 23 games in 9 sets in the path that led him to the yet another record of his career.
«Playing against Novak and Rafa? Difficult, but these are important tests, which will do us good », is sure Sinner, number 19 in the world, 20 years to go. After eliminating the Swede Mikael Ymer in three sets (6-1, 7-5, 6-3) in two hours and twenty-two minutes, he has to contend with Nadal, who defeated him in the quarterfinals last year.
And, last night, Berrettini got the better of the Korean Soonwoo Kwon, reaching the round of 16 for the first time in Paris, also becoming the first blue ever to reach at least the round of 16 in all four majors. Yesterday’s victory was characterized by a great service performance: 23 aces against 2 double fouls, 70% of first on the field with 84% of the points won, 59% of points won also with the second and ball – granted break. Now we will play a place in the quarters with the winner of the match between the great Roger Federer, 39 years old, n. 8 of the ranking and seeding, and the German Dominik Koepfe.