SASSUOLO, June 16, 2025
It was a Monday heavily affected by bad weather at the fourth edition of the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup. A severe thunderstorm hit the Sassuolo area, forcing organizers to postpone the start of the main draw of the ATP Challenger Tour 125 event to Tuesday.
Just arrived at Sporting Club Sassuolo but no tennis action anymore tonight.
After a thunderstorm and two games on Centre Court, they decided to postpone the start of Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup main draw to tomorrow. #TravelTheTour #Sassuolo pic.twitter.com/qcFZ1tW5bq
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) June 16, 2025
Before the rain arrived, however, the second round of qualifying matches was completed in the morning. To the 26 players already entered in the main draw, six more were added as qualifiers – three of them Italian.
In the first match of the day on Center Court, Marco Cecchinato defeated Slovakian Andrej Martin 6-1, 7-6(3), securing a place in the main draw for the second consecutive year. He will now face Spain’s Daniel Rincon.
There was no contest in the match between Oleg Prihodko and Gerard Lee Campana, with the Ukrainian dominating from start to finish and taking the win 6-1, 6-3. He will meet Italian Francesco Passaro next.
In an all-Italian clash, Stefano Napolitano came from behind to defeat Alexander Weis 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
“It was a tough match,” said Napolitano. “Alex started strong and had a break lead in the second set, but I managed to turn things around. I’m happy to get through qualifying. Now I’ll rest and look forward to getting back on court. I’m taking things one match at a time after my surgery late last year, which kept me away for a while. Patience is key. I’ll keep working to return to my best form.” He will face fellow Italian Giulio Zeppieri in the first round.
Also advancing was Giovanni Fonio, who secured his main draw spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Spaniard Oriol Roca Batalla.
“I’m really pleased,” said the Piedmontese player. “Despite the heat, it’s a pleasure to play in such a well-organized tournament in a beautiful setting like this club. Both qualifying rounds were hard-fought, with strong opponents. My goal is to keep playing at a high level. I know the competition will get tougher, but I believe I can compete with anyone.” Fonio will face Roca Batalla again, who re-entered the draw as a lucky loser after Dino Prizmic withdrew.
In the remaining morning matches, Swede Elias Ymer beat Raul Brancaccio 6-4, 0-6, 6-4), and Dutchman Ryan Nijboer defeated Gianmarco Bocchi 6-4, 6-2. Ymer now has the chance to face Stan Wawrinka in Tuesday’s evening session, while Brancaccio also returns to the main draw as a lucky loser due to withdrawal of Nerman Fatic, who finished runner-up at last week’s Internazionali di Tennis Città di Perugia. Nijboer will take on third seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.
Other first-round matches scheduled for Tuesday include second seed Vilus Gaubas of Lithuania against Mexico’s Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, and both Japanese players in the draw – Taro Daniel facing Spain’s Alejandro Moro Canas, and Rei Sakamoto meeting Ecuador’s Alvaro Guillen Meza. A French derby will see Geoffrey Blancaneux take on Luca Van Assche, while Italy’s Francesco Maestrelli plays Belgium’s Michael Geerts, and Stefano Travaglia goes up against Austrian Lukas Neumayer. Rounding off the lineup is the clash between Argentina’s Santiago Rodriguez Taverna and Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
