Matteo Arnaldi, winning debut in Delray Beach
ATP Delray Beach: Matteo Arnaldi-Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6 6-4 6-3
Matteo Arnaldi's adventure at the Delray Beach ATP 250 got off on the right foot. The San Remo tennis player overcame Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, number 77 in the world rankings, in a comeback with a score of 4-6 6-4 6-3 after two hours and 22 minutes of play.
Difficult start for the Italian who gave up the serve in the third game and was unable to recover the disadvantage, thus finding himself down a set. In the second partial came Arnaldi’s reaction, who went ahead by a break (3-1), let himself be recovered (3-3), but placed the decisive extension in the last game, taking the challenge to the third and decisive set. With the momentum in his favor, the Ligurian tennis player gets the decisive break in the eighth game (5-3), then closing the score with serve (6-3).
"Today è it was a tough match. I had not played for a month, getting into a rhythm was not è easy. Then there was a lot of wind, which forced me to do a lot of things differently,‖ said Arnaldi ‖. On one half of the court you were playing completely against the wind and on the other half with the wind in my favor, I am happy with how I managed to stay in the match fighting on every point".
In the next round Arnaldi will face one of Australia's Rinky Hijikata, No. 84 in the ATP rankings, and Britain's Liam Broady, No. 121 in the world, as the favorite.
