FORLI, June 17, 2021
The quarterfinals of the €44,820 Internazionali di Tennis Città di Forli are set. The second edition of the ATP Challenger 80 clay-court tournament is being held this week at the Circolo Tennis Villa Carpena Via Brando in Forli, Italy.
Jacopo Berrettini, younger brother of World No. 9 Matteo Berrettini, is one of three home favourites left in the singles draw. The 22-year-old wild card entry had knocked out No. 2 seeded compatriot Alessandro Giannessi in the first round and defeated Pedro Cachin from Argentina 4-6, 6-4 6-3 in Wednesday’s second-round encounter.
Dopo una battaglia di 3 ore e 11 minuti Jacopo #Berrettini batte Pedro Cachin e vola ai quarti di finale! 👊🏻🇮🇹@federtennis | @ATPChallenger | @SuperTennisTv #meftennisevents pic.twitter.com/Nbx1Hf7OGe
— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) June 16, 2021
“We both played a great match at high level,” Berrettini said afterwards. “In the final phase he made a few more mistakes … I was aware of having to hit many winners to be able to win. I am very happy with the continuity I played. The spectators helped me a lot. At one point a gentleman advised me not to get nervous (laughs). It wasn’t easy, but he was right. I thank the people, I hope they will continue to support me.”
Up next for World No. 467 Berrettini will be big-serving Mats Moraing of Germany, who also had to go the distance against Dutch veteran Igor Sijsling, rallying 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 after one hour and 45 minutes.
Forti from qualifying to quarterfinals
In the top half of the draw, qualifier Francesco Forti continued his fine run of form with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over German qualifier Lucas Gerch. Twenty-one-year-old Forti, upset top seed Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands, who earned his fourth ATP Challenger career title at the Bratislava Open in Slovakia last week, with a hard-fought three-set win in the opening round of the main draw. Forti will next take on No. 8 seed Quentin Halys of France, who beat Elliot Benchetrit from Morocco 6-4, 7-5.
World No. 191 Steven Diez from Canada remains the highest-ranked player left in the singles draw. The No. 4 seed defeated Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-2, 7-6(9) to face No. 7 seed Tomas Etcheverry from Argentina in the quarterfinals.
In other action on Thursday, Italian alternate Raul Brancaccio will take on Gasto Elias from Portugal.
