Taylor Fritz Proves Too Much for Mattia Bellucci: It’s All Over in Three Sets at the U.S. Open
Taylor Fritz proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for Mattia Bellucci. At the U.S. Open, the 25-year-old from Busto Arsizio—ranked No. 95 in the ATP rankings—lost in three sets to his opponent, who is ranked No. 10 in the world. On the hard courts of Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, the match ended 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 after just over an hour and a half of play. In the third round, the American will face Francisco Cerúndolo, with a possible matchup against Flavio Cobolli in the round of 16.
Bellucci did his best against an opponent of Fritz’s caliber as early as the first set, which was more closely contested than the final 6-0 score suggests: the Lombard player lost the second game only on the third break point and the fourth on the second. In the fifth game, however, it was Bellucci who had three break points to take his opponent’s serve, but Fritz held on and closed out the set, leaving Bellucci at 0. The second set opened with a promising 1-1 tie, before the Italian lost five games in a row. In the third set, he even took the lead, despite saving three break points. He would concede just as many in the following games, failing to get back into the match—even momentarily.
For Bellucci, however, his US Open run—which began on a positive note—has come to an end: the player from Busto Arsizio, currently ranked 95th in the ATP rankings, had advanced past the first round against a qualifier before running into Fritz’s solid play. The path ahead for the American, the tournament’s 10th seed, now promises to be anything but easy: after Cerúndolo, a potential round of 16 match against Cobolli—the fifth seed and currently ranked sixth in the world—would be a high-level matchup.
Bellucci’s defeat, however, does not overshadow the overall picture of an extraordinarily successful Italian campaign at Flushing Meadows. There are no fewer than ten Italian players in the men’s draw, a number that attests to the depth Italian tennis has achieved. Among the most anticipated players are Cobolli and Lorenzo Musetti, the No. 13 seed, while today also brought good news of Luciano Darderi’s victory, as he defeated the Czech Dalibor Svrcina with a score of 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 in over three and a quarter hours of play, earning his spot in the third round.
The tournament looks particularly wide open this year, mainly due to the absence of Jannik Sinner, the world No. 1 and 2024 defending champion. The South Tyrolean is undergoing rehabilitation at J Medical in Turin for inflammation in the tendons of his right knee, with the goal of returning to competition in late September in Beijing. Stepping into the role of the top favorite is Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, who is returning after more than four months on the sidelines due to a wrist injury: “Coming back here and playing best-of-five sets after such a long time will be really challenging,” the Spaniard admitted.
