Matteo to Matteo: Arnaldi smiles, Berrettini does not

Matteo Arnaldi is the last Italian still in the running for victory at the ATP Challenger 175 in Cagliari: the current world number 103, after overcoming Federico Arnaboldi and Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the first two rounds, defeated the tournament’s number 3 seed, Portugal’s Nuno Borges, with a score of 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(3), thus earning a place in the semifinals on the clay court of the Sardinian capital.

Negative day instead for the other Matteo of tennis, Berrettini: despite a very good start against Hubert Hurkacz, the Roman dropped at a distance and was remounted in the second and third sets of a match that ended 4-6, -3, 6-4 for the Pole, who just like the Azzurro is trying to relaunch himself after a not easy period.

Arnaldi, in Cagliari, is finally reaping some satisfaction after a very complicated start to 2026: before Cagliari, in fact, the San Remo player had won only two other matches this year, against Gaston in Brisbane in early January (before withdrawing due to injury in the next round) and against Kopriva in the qualifiers for the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, before being eliminated in the final round by Muller.

Berrettini had also chosen the Cagliari Challenger to try to bounce back from a start of the season marked by several difficult moments: despite some notable victories, such as the one against Bublik in Miami or the resounding 6-0, 6-0 inflicted on Medvedev in Monte Carlo, the former Top 10 player has not yet managed to take the satisfaction he had accustomed himself and Italian fans to in previous seasons. The next goal is to do well in Rome, in front of his hometown audience.