Out for second seeded Jarry
Before Andreas Seppi's big appearance today at 7 pm, two co-favourites from Italy have reached the last 16 at the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol. No. 3 seed Luca Nardi won his opening match on centre court against Alibek Kachmazov from Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4, followed by Giulio Zeppieri (No. 5) without losing a set 6-3, 6-4 against Petr Nouza from the Czech Republic. Kachmazov and Nouza had survived the qualification in Gardena-Gröden.
Nardi is number 131 in the world rankings and with his 19 years one of the young players of the Azzurri who wants to emulate Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti. He is one of the favourites to win the tournament and was also satisfied with his first appearance in Gardena-Gröden: "It was a very difficult match against a player who is even better on these courts. In the penultimate game I was attentive on the return and managed to break. I know that on paper I'm one of the favourites, but every tournament is different, let's see what happens in the next match." He will face another Russian in the round of 16, Evgeni Karlovskyi.
Zeppieri was also satisfied with his first match in Ortisei: "I certainly showed a very good performance. I didn't know my opponent very well, I only knew that he is a good server. I was good in the decisive moments and managed to break in both the first and second set." Stefano Travaglia awaits in the last 16 in an Italian derby. "It will be a tough match, we have played each other a few times. He is a player I respect a lot. I'll try to do my best in this tournament as well."
The first big surprise of the tournament came from Lukas Rosol. The Czech, who was ranked No. 26 in the world at his best and is now ranked 218, eliminated No. 2 seed Nicolas Jarry of Chile (ATP 116) 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (4). Tomas Machac, on the other hand, won his opening match. The world number 115 beat compatriot Andrew Paulson 6-4, 6-1.
