Mattia Bellucci wins the tricolor derby with Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the “Rolex Paris Masters”, the last ATP Masters 1000 of the season (prize money 6,309,095 euros) which is being played on the fast indoor venue of La Défense Arena in Paris. The tennis player from Busto Arsizio, number 66 in the world, prevailed over his compatriot, number 91 ATP and like him coming from the qualifiers, 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 16 minutes of play. Bellucci, who had already beaten his compatriot in the only previous match last spring, in the round of 32 of the Challenger on the red clay of Cagliari, will now face one of Francisco Cerundolo, seeded number 16, and Arthur Rinderknech.
Musetti beats Hurkacz and finds Zverev
Lorenzo Musetti passes the first round. The tennis player from Carrara beats the Polish Hubert Hurkacz on his debut with a score of 7-6(3) 7-6(10), completing his fourth success in a row against a Top 30 player and giving himself a duel in the second round against the German Alexander Zverev, who will play his first match as world number 1.
Out Darderi and Arnaldi
Luciano Darderi stops in the first round. The blue tennis player, n. 21 ATP, he surrendered with a double 6-2 to the Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata. Everything was easy for Rafel Jodar: the Spaniard, fresh from entering the world top 10 and seeded number 9, defeated the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-2 6-3. Other first round results: Ignacio Buse (Per) b. Zizou Bergs (Bel) 6-2 6-4 Luca Van Assche (Fra) b. Mariano Navone (Arg) 6-3 7-5. Red light for Matteo Arnaldi too. The 25-year-old from Sanremo, number 36 atp, lost 6-4 1-6 6-3, in an hour and forty minutes of match, to the British left-handed Cameron Norrie, number 45 in the ranking, once again postponing his first victory in this tournament. A bit of a mockery for Arnaldi given the statistics of the match – with a total of 73 points won each – which, however, are a little “distorted” by the numbers of the second set, dominated by the blue. Arnaldi scored 6 aces (and a double fault), 34 winners and 28 unprovoked errors: for Norrie 3 aces (and no double faults), 22 winners and 21 free ones.