Fighting Frustration
Challenger tournaments during the second week of Grand Slams always feature a mix of regular Challenger players and ATP players who lost in the early rounds of the Slams. Today, we have two players of the latter category facing each other in Genova, Italy.
Jiri Vesely made it through qualifying in New York and lost to Ricardas Berankis in round one of the main draw after serving for the match in the fourth set. His opponent today, Lorenzo Sonego, made it one round further, beating Marcel Granollers in the first round before losing to Pablo Andujar, who was one of the bigger surprises of the US Open.
Italian Inspiration
Sonego will receive a boost form the raucous Italian crowd who support their countrymen fiercely. Both Sonego and Vesely had a bye in the first round as seeded players and won comfortably in round two. Vesely beat Alejandro Tabilo 7-5 6-1 while Yannick Hanfmann didn't stand a chance against Sonego who cruised to a 6-1 6-3 win. Sonego's win was rather impressive given Hanfmann's good form this summer.
Today's third round match is scheduled to be the last match on Center Court and this might also make an impact on the match. Italian Challengers are one of a kind. The attendance and atmosphere you get from the crowd are always a fascinating aspect of the handicap, especially under the floodlights at night. Italian fans love rooting for their countrymen at night, this creates a very special atmosphere.
Special Situation
It's a good feeling taking the better player at home. Although I don't use rankings as a strong predictive indicator, they do give you a general impression of how players are doing. The direction of these two players' rankings could not be more opposite. While Vesely slipped out of the top 100 this year, Sonego is steadily climbing up the rankings, resulting in him being a regular top 50 player.
The Italian has especially improved his game on clay, where he is 23-13 this year. He reached the quarterfinal at the Masters event in Monte Carlo, as well as the semifinal in Kitzbuhel, where he lost to eventual winner Dominic Thiem. Jiri Vesely, however, is going back and forth between ATP and Challenger events, but he hasn't even made it past the quarterfinal stage at the Challenger level. Instead, he has had some shocking losses on clay against Bachinger, Ehrat and Milojevic.
I see Sonego as the better and more consistent player. He entered the tournament on a late WC which shows his motivation to go far here. Matchupwise, I don't see any concerns for Sonego either. His serve shouldn't give Vesely too many chances to break. The Czech is struggling with confidence. Not an ideal situation against Sonego's powerful and consistent game from the baseline. I don't think Vesely stands a chance against the motivated Italian in front of his home crowd.
