Main draw in Ortisei starts on Monday
Qualifying for the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol began on Sunday. Thanks to a wild card from the organisers, four South Tyroleans were also able to play. But for the quartet the home tournament is already over.
Jonas Greif from Kaltern lost to the Romanian Marius Copil (world number 56 three years ago, now 337 in the rankings) 1:6, 3:6. However, the 20-year-old was particularly pleased with his performance in the second set. "I served well there and unfortunately conceded the break in the sixth game." Next it was Gabriel Moroder's turn. The 18-year-old from Ortisei immediately broke Giovanni Oradini, but then had no chance and lost 1:6 to the Roveretan. Moroder is not satisfied and wants to do better next year at his home tournament. Oradini is the only Italian player to have reached the 2nd qualifying round. On Monday he will play against Czech Petr Nouza for a place in the main draw.
Nicola Rispoli surprised everyone by playing an even match against the experienced German Matthias Bachinger, a finalist in Ortisei in 2014. The Merano player only had to surrender 7:6 (2), 6:4, after being ahead 5:3 in the first set. "I am really happy with the way I played, too bad about the 5:4 in the first, when I served for the set and he made the break. I also want to thank the club for the wild card."
The last to take the court was Patric Prinoth. The 26-year-old from St. Christina played against Aldin Sektic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, just like last year when he had collected three games. Tonight he had to surrender in 40 minutes 6:1, 6:0.
The most important tennis tournament in South Tyrol, where Andreas Seppi will end his career, starts on Monday at 5 p.m. with the first four matches of the main draw. Five Italians will be on the court immediately. The derby between Stefano Travaglia and Francesco Maestrelli opens the programme on the centre court, followed by Giulio Zeppieri taking on a qualifier or lucky loser after the withdrawal of Daniel Masur. On court 1 will be Andrea Arnaboldi against Bosnian Nerman Fatic, then Matteo Gigante will face Croatian Borna Gojo. Seppi will debut on centre court on Tuesday evening against the number 4 seed, German Yannick Hanfmann, number 155 in the ATP ranking.
