Roland Garros, a great start is not enough: no quarters for Lorenzo Sonego

Lorenzo Sonego stops in the round of 16 at Roland Garros

Lorenzo Sonego’s adventure at Roland Garros ended in the round of 16. The Piedmontese tennis player, despite a lackluster start, was in fact defeated by Karen Khachanov, who was able to win 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(7), 6-1 in three hours and twenty-six minutes of play.

Sonego’s great start gives hope for another tricolor feat on the French clay court: it took the 48th-ranked player just 36 minutes, in fact, to get by the Russian, No. 11 in the ATP rankings, in the first set. The trend in the second was different, with Khachanov getting back on track and bringing it home in exactly one hour, while the third fraction was much more balanced, with Sonego even wasting a set point during the tie-break.

The outcome of the decisive mini-set in the third set takes mental and physical energy away from Sonego, who has none left in the next fraction and does not go beyond one game won against his opponent’s six. By reaching the round of 16, however, Sonego equaled his best result in Paris, achieved in 2020 (eliminating him then was Diego Schwartzman in three sets).