The Internazionali d’Italia opened with a mixed day for Italian tennis. The biggest upset came from Lorenzo Sonego, who suffered a straight-sets defeat (6-2, 6-3) at the hands of qualifier Roman Burruchaga, ranked 135th in the world. The match lasted just over an hour and a half, with Sonego struggling to find rhythm, hitting 37 unforced errors and landing just 58% of his first serves.
Once a semi-finalist in Rome back in 2021, Sonego looked far from his best. He had a chance to break early in the second set but squandered it, and Burruchaga capitalized with solid, no-frills tennis to clinch his first-ever win at the Masters 1000 level. He now moves on to face 23rd seed Karen Khachanov in the next round.
There was better news for Francesco Passaro, who edged past Tseng Chun-hsin in three sets. The Italian dominated the opening set 6-0 but allowed his opponent back into the match, dropping the second 6-2. In the decider, Passaro broke serve early and held on to secure a 6-3 victory. He now faces a familiar opponent: Grigor Dimitrov, whom he played earlier this year at the Australian Open, winning after the Bulgarian was forced to retire.
Italian Open: Sinner returns on May 10, set to face Cinà or Navone
05 May - 20:26 •
2' min
