Argentine tennis player Diego Schwartzman fell to local wild card Matteo Arnaldi in three sets (6-1, 4-6, 6-3) in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia ATP M1000 in Rome. No. 99 on the list will face compatriot Lorenzo Musetti in the next stage.
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A duel between two players with completely opposite presence found us in the first round of the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, already the night was the protagonist on the Central Court. Diego Schwartzman They have not shown good performances and this shows in the results as they lost in the first round in Estoril and Madrid and the second in Barcelona. came from the other side Matthew Arnaldiwho is enjoying the best moments of his career after winning the Tenerife and Murcia Challengers, he has also recently broken into the top 100 in the world.
Arnaldi dominates early, Schwartzman recovers
As expected, the Italian started the match by pushing his nation and playing aggressive tennis, taking a quick 3-0 lead after Schwartzman’s poor turn of serve. The Argentinian tried not to get frustrated quickly and react, but Arnaldi didn’t give him the chance and showing his best shots, he managed to take the first set 6-1 in just over 40 minutes.
In the second set, «Little One» was renewed and after struggling in the first few games, he managed to create four break points that would give him a 4-2 lead. However, the young Italian was cool and held the offer to pressure him to 3-3. The match continued very evenly until the ninth game Schwartzman fought back and managed to break the Italian’s serve to take the second set 6-4.
Local wins
After closing a tight set and with a precise version of Diego, a quick break surprised Arnaldi, who took the lead in this decisive set. The Italian was still very aggressive, especially with the forehand, so the Argentinian tried to hit from the wrong side, but he suffered when he had to play on his second serve and Matteo punished with a return. Even so, Schwartzman continued without lowering his handsthough a hard-earned fifth game is 2-3.
The games were more and more actionable, but Arnaldi managed to maintain the winning margin he had put on the scoreboard, also relying on a fervent crowd to support him despite the fact that midnight was approaching. Diego struggled to hold his serve and this showed in the ninth game where the Italian looked to get rid of the serving responsibility during the game. After a long game Arnaldi managed to seal his victory with a 6-3 finaladding another distinction.
