ATP Naples, bitter debut for Lorenzo Sonego

Bitter debut for Lorenzo Sonego

He was certainly imagining a different debut for Lorenzo Sonego at the ATP 250 in Naples, after he said in the press conference on the eve of the event that he was eager to take the court. The 27-year-old Piedmontese tennis player had to surrender, after more than two hours of battle, to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, number 39 in the ATP rankings and the number six seed in the tournament’s draw, thus exiting the tournament in the round of 16.

During this season Sonego and Baez had met twice before, and Sonego had prevailed in both cases. This time, however, he failed to earn a pass to the next tuno, bowing out with a score of 7-5, 7-6(7-3).

The first set saw the Argentine break the Italian twice, once at 1-1 and once at 5-5.

The second set was very balanced and saw the two responding blow by blow, going all the way to the tie-break with no breaks on either side. The tie-break saw the Argentine win three decisive exchanges on the Italian’s serve, before closing on 6-3.

On Sonego’s debut day, three other Italians on the court were Luca Nardi, Francesco Passaro and Fabio Fognini.