Lorenzo Musetti advances to the third round of Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam event of the season, currently being played on the grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club in London. The 22-year-old Italian, number 25 in the world and seeded, wins the derby with his peer and compatriot Luciano Darderi, number 37 in the ATP ranking, with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 49 minutes. In the third round he will meet the Argentine Francisco Comesaña and will be the favorite.
Novak Djokovic also moves forwardwho after having dispelled doubts about his recovery from knee surgery in the first round, in the second round beat the English Jacob Fearnley, losing a set (6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5). The young Flavio Cobolli, on the other hand, did not make it, defeated in the fifth set (6-7 6-7 6-4 6-4 4-6) by the Chilean Alejando Tabilo after a battle that lasted almost 4 hours.
Wimbledon: Sinner wins the derby, but what a show with Berrettini
TV Record for Sinner-Berrettini
And there were record TV ratings, with sky-high enthusiasm, front pages in the newspapers, the Italian derby – won by Jannik Sinner over Matteo Berrettini, on Wednesday evening – not only transformed the staid Centre Court into a fiery Colosseum for a few hours, but literally made Wimbledon-mania explode, conquering millions of new fans. It’s hard to imagine a better spot for tennis.: if Sinner was able to confirm, once again, his new status as world no. 1, managing to best manage the empty passage suffered in the third set, for Berrettini – beyond the defeat – the match on the Centre Court was the confirmation of his return to the highest levels, after two years of doubts and injuries.
Panatta: “Game of the century? Let’s not exaggerate”
Wimbledon, from the height of its tradition, turns the page as always and gives space to king Djokovic who wins, goes to the third round but loses a set, and among other things to the other Italian derby, which today saw Lorenzo Musetti struggle (in five sets) to get the better of Luciano Darderi. But the evening marathon on the center court between the current no. 1 and the former All England finalist still remains in the eyes «As a match it was beautiful from the emotional point of view, but technically not so great. I read about the match of the century, but as usual it is exaggerated. They both made a lot of unforced errors and I think it’s not normal for Sinner to make so many mistakes”, Adriano Panatta’s usually irreverent judgment on Sinner-Berrettini.
But the evening at the centre court remains a commercial, as well as a nice surprise for the Roman, at ease at Wembley as in his best days and capable of putting the world number 1 in difficulty. “It almost seemed that Jannik was surprised not to play at his best and yesterday he couldn’t do it, also thanks to Berrettini – adds Panatta, who has rediscovered the power of his serve, but he moves worse than three years ago: recover with training and the matches he is missing, he can improve and play his game”. Having managed to play on equal terms for almost four hours against the world number 1, at times dominant with serve and groundstrokes, has set the Roman’s career back three years, when – it was 2021 – Berrettini had reached the Wimbledon final, then lost against Novak Djokovic.
Berrettini: “I got the shivers”
The highest point of his career that now – tournament after tournament – he is trying to relaunch. «I am working very hard, I pay great attention to details. I realized that as the years go by, the only thing that really makes me happy is playing, commit myself and play matches like this – Berrettini admitted at the end of the match -. I felt the weight of the history of this match, and this makes me proud: it is one of those matches that I will remember in 20 years. At a certain point I felt the crowd going crazy, and I got the shivers”.
An evening of intense emotions, also experienced by those who followed the match on TV: on Sky share of 9%, with peaks of 1.2 million viewers around 11.30 pm.
#Italian #derby #Wimbledon #Musettis #Darderi #defeated #5th #set #Cobolli #fights
