Luca Nardi does not join Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti
Nothing to do for Luca Nardi, who failed to gain access to the main draw of the Cincinnati Masters 1000. In the last round of qualifying, the Marche player, world number 97 and No. 6 in the seedings, surrendered in two sets to Belgium’s Alexander Blockx (4-6 3-6), number 121 in the ATP rankings and No. 18 in the seedings.
An uphill start for the Blue who lost his serve as early as in the third game (1-2). Blockx confirms the break (3-1) and has four chances to repeat it but Nardi is good to save himself (2-3). The Belgian, however, is flawless on serve and closes the first partial on 6-4.
The Pesaro native also starts the second set poorly, giving up serve to zero in the opening game. Blockx confirmed the break by nullifying a dangerous counter-break ball and retained the lead until 5-3 when he again broke Nardi on serve, ending the match on the fourth match point (6-3).
The Pesaro player also lost his service game.
The main draw of the ‘Cincinnati Open‘ for Nardi thus fades. That leaves seven Azzurri remaining at the start of the U.S. tournament, including Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, who could find themselves against each other in the quarterfinals.
