Francesco Passaro and Matteo Arnaldi say goodbye to the Next Gen ATP Finals

Passaro and Arnaldi say goodbye to Next Gen ATP Finals

On the third and final day of the group stage of the Next Gen ATP Finals, both Francesco Passaro and Matteo Arnaldi extinguished their dreams of qualifying for the semifinals.

Matteo Arnaldi who opened the program on Central Court was defeated in three sets by Czech tennis player Jiri Lehecka with a score of 4-3 4-1 4-3. The 21-year-old from San Remo failed to exploit more than one break point in the first set and even found himself ahead in the tie-break 5-4. From there, however, he suffered three consecutive points with Lehecka cashing in the first set. In the second fraction there was little for Matteo to do as he succumbed 4-1, while the last set was a bit of a copy of the first with Arnaldi failing to take advantage of break opportunities and ending up surrendering in the tie-break.

It was a different story for Francesco Passaro, who would have had to win in three sets against U.S. tennis player Brandon Nakashima in order to detach his pass to the semifinals. The Italian thus tried with all his might to win the first partial: at 2-2, however, he did not take advantage of a break chance and arrived at the tie-break, leading 3-2, he gave up 5 of the last six points with Nakashima closing for 7 points to 4. From there on there was no more match with the Asian-born tennis player making the match his with the final score of 4-3 4-2 4-1.

With Arnaldi and Passaro out, the Azzurri’s hopes remain hanging on Lorenzo Musetti, engaged in the evening’s inside-out match against English tennis player Jack Draper.