Matteo Arnaldi feels like another player after victory with Novak Djokovic

It starts with very good news the day of Italian tennis at the Mutua Madrid Open, where Matteo Arnaldi (No. 44 ATP) has just snatched the pass to the quarterfinals overcoming in two sets No. 17 Frances Tiafoe, with the final score of 63 75. For the Ligurian this is the first quarterfinal in the Spanish capital, the second in total in a Masters 1000 after last year’s adventure in Canada (with defeat in the semifinals in Montreal). In the quarters, his opponent will be the winner of the challenge between Jack Draper (No. 6) victorious 62 62 over Tommy Paul (No. 12). There is no official record between the two.

“I am happy to have won, because Tiafoe is always a tough opponent and at Wimbledon he had beaten me despite being ahead by two sets. I played well, especially on the break balls – said the Azure after a victory in which the six break balls canceled and the three turnovers saved from 0-30 in the second set marked the difference -. The match turned on those moments. I lost serve at the moment of closing, but then I made it again and closed: the’last game was the summary of the match”.

“Two years ago here I had beaten Casper Ruud (No. 4), losing in the next round. A few days ago I beat Djokovic and I didn&#8217t want it to end the same way, this time I handled it very well, and beating Novak gives extra motivation to go on”. A motivation on which Longwave today won his third consecutive victory over a Top 20 player, the longest streak of his career, becoming the third Italian to reach the quarters in Madrid after Matteo Berrettini (2021) and Jannik Sinner (2024), pending the round of 16 that will oppose Lorenzo Musetti to Alex De Minaur this evening. In addition, Arnaldi is the fifth Italian after Berrettini, Musetti, Sinner and Fabio Fognini to reach a quarterfinal in both a Masters 1000 on cement and on clay.