Author: Barkha Roy
Thursday was a good day for the Brazilian stars at the tournament, as in the men’s event, Thiago Monteiro beat Adrian Mannarino in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the second round. Elsewhere, Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round of the tournament.
The third day of the Rome Masters 1000 saw plenty of twists and turns in both the men’s and women’s events. World number 99 and local boy Matteo Arnaldi beat Argentina’s David Schwartzman in a three-setter 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
After a dominant performance in the first set, Arnaldi failed to convert two early break opportunities in the second set, when Schwartzman regained his momentum on the clay court. Schwartzman managed to break Arnaldi’s serve to level the score, and the highlight of the set came during a thrilling point involving a well-executed tweener by Arnaldi. Despite being applauded by the crowd, Arnaldi missed the chance to win the point with a shot that went wide.
In the third set, Arnaldi quickly took the lead once again and didn’t face a break point in the final set. However, he needed four match points and 12 minutes to finally secure victory over Schwartzman in a dramatic final game.
In another match, Emil Ruusuvuori managed to secure an extraordinary first-round victory over Ugo Humbert in a tense three-set encounter. Although Humbert served on both occasions, Ruusuvuori found himself in a precarious position twice, but managed to defend the first with 4-5, 40/30, in the third set. He repeated the feat in the deciding tie-break, when he was trailing Humbert 5/6, before pulling off a remarkable comeback and clinching victory with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6).
Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Sofia Kenin caused a major upset by defeating Aryna Sabalenka to end her impressive winning streak before the quarter-finals by 7-6 and 6-2. Sabalenka, who won the Madrid Open last week and had already recorded 29 match wins this year, was in excellent form and ranked second in the world. She was also leading the race for the WTA Finals. However, Kenin’s victory over Sabalenka put a damper on the Belarusian tennis player’s exceptional season.
American Taylor Townsend defeated number 3 seed Jessica Pegula in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Townsend showed his fighting spirit by winning seven consecutive games after trailing 2-0 in the first set. This impressive comeback helped her take the lead by winning the first set and breaking her opponent’s serve in the second. However, it was her fast start to the third set that ultimately secured victory for the American, who used her serve and volley skills to emerge triumphant in the first three-set match between the two players.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff, the current world number 5, progressed to the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia tournament after easily defeating Yulia Putintseva. Gauff lost just one game throughout the match, triumphing over her opponent with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win on Thursday.