INDIAN WELLS (USA) (ITALPRESS) – Two Azzurri ahead, three at home. This is the Italian tally after the men’s draw day of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, the first of the season, scheduled at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (prize money of $8,963,700). Matteo Gigante, who surprised Sebastian Baez, and Matteo Arnaldi advanced; out went Lorenzo Sonego, Luciano Darderi, and Giulio Zeppieri.
The surprise of the day was signed by Matteo Gigante (217). After coming through the qualifiers, he defeated Sebastian Baez (34) in a comeback 3-6 6-1 6-4. He signed his first career victory against a Top 50 player. He will be the opponent of Taylor Fritz, world No. 4 and third seed (no previous). The Roman is playing for the third time in a major circuit tournament on the draw.
In 2024 he made it through the qualifiers in Marrakech, stopping in the first round; in Rome he reached the second round in the main draw after beating Giulio Zeppieri, before bowing out to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo. Baez, who in recent weeks chose to play in South America by winning the Atp 500 in Rio de Janeiro and reaching the final at the Atp 250 in Santiago, did not go beyond the third round in Indian Wells, which he reached in 2023 and 2024.
Matteo Arnaldi (35 Atp) defeated U.S. Aleksandar Kovacevic (94) 6-3 5-7 6-4, who returned to the Top 100 a month after reaching his first career Atp final in Montpellier, losing in a third-set tie-break to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The San Remo native, who won both direct confrontations with Kovacevic, is playing in Indian Wells for the third time, his second in the main draw. He first attempted qualifying here, in the tournament and in a Masters 1000, in 2023, without passing. Last year he made his main draw debut and stopped in the second round, beaten by Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz after a victory over Frenchman Luca Van Assche.
Waiting for him in the next round is Andrey Rublev, world No. 8, ahead 2-1 in straight sets. The Muscovite has won the two hard-court confrontations, in Vienna in 2023 and in Montreal in 2024 in the semifinals, the first in a Masters 1000 for the San Remo native. Arnaldi beat him on clay at Roland Garros last year.
Outside Lorenzo Sonego (37) beaten 6-4 7-5 by Belgian David Goffin (56), a former world No. 7 whom he had defeated in his two most recent direct confrontations, played in 2024, in the qualifiers in Monte-Carlo and in the semifinals in Winston-Salem. Goffin had won the first match in Montpellier in 2021. He will now take on Alex De Minaur, the No. 9 seed, in the second round.
Luciano Darderi (60) succumbed 6-3 6-3 to French qualifier Hugo Gaston (93), whom he had defeated in Cordoba on clay in 2023. For the 23-year-old born in Villa Gesell, Argentina, it was his outright debut in Indian Wells. The Frenchman, who was able to surprise Carlos Alcaraz and hit the quarters at the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 in 2021, had never won a match in two Indian Wells appearances, between qualifiers and main draw.
Giulio Zeppieri’s (394) first time in the main draw of a Masters 1000 other than the Internazionali BNL d’Italia ended with an elimination in the first round. In a match between qualifiers, he was defeated 7-5 6.1 by Australian Adam Walton (96, no previous record), who has won only 3 of his 14 main draw matches played in major circuit tournaments. The Australian will be the first opponent in the tournament for Denis Shapovalov, the 27th seed who starts his journey directly in the second round. Then in the third round could be Carlos Alcaraz, world No. 3 and second seed.
– Photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
