Wimbledon 2026: Lorenzo Sonego Smiles After Tiebreak Victory Over Etcheverry
Lorenzo Sonego continues his run at Wimbledon. The 31-year-old from Turin managed to defeat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round of the Grand Slam on the grass courts of London. It took four sets to wrap up a match that lasted nearly three and three-quarters hours and was decided by two tiebreaks: 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(4) was the final score for the Italian, who will face Canadian Gabriel Diallo in the next round on Thursday, July 2.
After a first set decided by a break at 5-4, Sonego had to work harder in the second: after losing his serve at 3-2, Etcheverry responded with a break back to tie the score at 3-3. Once again, the ninth game proved decisive. The next two sets were incredibly close and evenly matched: there were no breaks in the third set, with the Piedmontese player saving two set points in the tenth game before ultimately losing in a tiebreak. The fourth set was even more one-sided, with no break points even coming up until the very end, which ultimately favored the Italian.
This isn’t the first time an Italian has faced Etcheverry at Wimbledon or on the tour and come out on top: last January, in the round of 16 at the ATP 250 in Hong Kong, it was Lorenzo Musetti who defeated the Argentine in three sets, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, in a match that lasted more than two and a half hours. The South American thus remains a tough but beatable opponent for the Italians.
Sonego had been anticipating this matchup ever since last Friday’s draw, when the Wimbledon bracket pitted the Turin native against the Buenos Aires native. This draw had already sparked discussion due to the large number of Italians in the main draw: in addition to Sonego, the men’s singles field includes Jannik Sinner (No. 1 seed and defending champion), Flavio Cobolli (No. 10), Luciano Darderi (No. 14), Matteo Arnaldi (No. 32), Mattia Bellucci, and Matteo Berrettini.
In the ATP rankings, Sonego currently holds the No. 69 spot, the result of a season that has been up and down so far. The Piedmont native has nonetheless managed to secure direct qualification for the main draw of the Championships, where he will now aim to advance as far as possible on the London grass—a surface that historically brings out the best in his aggressive style of play and powerful serve.
His next opponent, Canadian Gabriel Diallo, is a familiar name to Italian tennis fans: Diallo was one of Musetti’s potential challengers in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Hong Kong earlier this year. For Sonego, this will therefore be a challenging test, but the Italian can count on the momentum from a hard-fought victory like today’s against Etcheverry.
