Marco Chiudinelli has been around tennis for a long time, and been involved in some spectacular matches, notably a marathon Davis Cup doubles match were he partnered Stan Wawrinka to defeat against the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych and Lukaz Rosol in a seven hour thriller. Chiudinelli’s opponents today are far less illustrious, but the veteran Swiss is still going strong.
Wednesday in Bergamo, Chiudinelli defeated young Frenchman Quentin Halys 7-6, 7-5 to make the quarter-finals. Chiudinelli edged the tie-break, before saving numerous break points in the second before stealing in to break for the match as Halys tired to take it to another tie-break. It’s already an excellent run for the thirty-four year old, as he made the draw as an alternate before dismissing eighth seed Konstantin Kravchuk in straight sets.
First round highlights from Monday and Tuesday saw Trisan Lamasine defeat teenage Swede Elias Ymer 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. Gregoire Barrere looked down and out against fellow qualifier Dzmitry Zhrymont, with the Belorussian up five-two and then six-four in the final set tie-break. Barrere recovered to win that epic ten-eight.
Seeds fell like stones in play on Monday and Tuesday, with top seed Yuki Bhambri beaten by another alternate, Peter Gojowcyzk 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. The German took further advantage of his fortune by beating Andrey Kuznetsov again in a come-back victory in the second round, this time 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Incredibly, just two seeds emerged from the first round, as Egor Gerasimov beat third seed Nikolaz Basilashvili 7-5, 6-3, and Farrukh Dustov defeated Mirza Basic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Second seed Ruben Bemelmans rounded up the shocks as he went down 6-3, 6-4 to Marton Fucsovics. Go Soeda dropped a set to qualifier Andreas Beck, but won through 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Michael Berrer almost went one further, as he was outplayed in the first set by Radek Stepanek, but edged the veteran 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
With the draw massively open going into Wednesday, yet another seed fell, this time in second round action. Go Soeda escaped a tough first round match but was easily defeated by Pierre Hugues-Herbert 6-4, 6-3. Egor Gerasimov also took care of former Top 100 player Igor Sijsling 6-1, 6-2.
There is still one first round encounter left to play, as Dustin Brown and Aldin Setkic highlight the night session in Bergamo.
Quarter-Final Draw and Predictions:
Peter Gojowcyzk vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert: Gojowcyzk has done exceptionally well in two tough matches this week, but he has made a slow start, losing the first set in each encounter. If the same happens against Herbert I do not see him working his way out of trouble. Prediction: Herbert in straight sets.
Other quarter-final match-ups yet to be determined.
