Italian Mattia Bellucci pulled off his first victory over a top-tenner as he ousted second seed Daniil Medvedev in the shock of the day at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam, after a marathon match lasting just short of three hours and featuring multiple underarm serves.
The 92nd ranked Italian held match point in the second set tie-break but had to fight for almost an hour further for his next before winning 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 for the biggest win of his career as he took out the 2023 champion.
“I really tried to enjoy every minute of it,” Bellucci said to the ATP afterwards. “I tried to have fun on court and be myself as much as possible. I hit the serve and volley a bit and the underarm serve. I wanted to be myself and I saw him far back. I really think it is something I used to move him a little bit from there. I don’t want to be disrespectful. I felt that I had to enjoy every moment of this match. This is a big result so I will enjoy it.”
With Medvedev taking an extreme defensive position when returning, it didn’t take long for Bellucci to pull out the tricks and opted for the underarm serve as early as 2-2 in the first set. His left-handed groundstrokes and swinging serve caused problems for the Russian throughout the encounter and he broke first for a 5-3 lead, winning the set with a sliced angled drop shot.
Medvedev fought back to go 3-1 up in the second but was pegged back later in the set which was settled in a shoot-out. Bellucci had his chance to close out but played a defensive point and lost his opportunity, and the set. In the decider, both players held serve until Medvedev hit a forehand long at 30-40 down handing the Italian the break of serve and he ended the match with a love service game before dropping to the floor on his back soaking in the moment.
Elsewhere, seventh seed Arthur Fils took his time to get familiar with the indoor conditions inside the Rotterdam Ahoy Arena before winning his first-round match comfortably in three sets 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-1 over compatriot Constant Lestienne who also threatened to cause an upset but ran out of steam midway during the contest.
Lestienne is 169th in the ATP rankings and therefore an unfamiliar name on the singles circuit but earned his way into the main draw with two qualifying victories including winning all three tie breaks he played. He took the first set here in the same fashion and bamboozled his opponent with a mix of spins – including regular forehand slices – as he varied the speed on his groundstrokes.
“I would say the first set wasn’t that good but the second was better, so it was okay,” said Fils afterwards. “Of course he is a great player, so it’s tough to get used to his ball as well. Sometimes he’s playing slow, sometimes very fast, used a lot of slices, so it was not was not easy to feel great.”
But as the match wore on, Fils started to dictate more with his forehand, as well as adjusting to the slower pace of the court, losing just three more games during the match. “It’s been a long time. I didn’t play on the slow courts like these,” he said. “I’ve been in Davis Cup which was very fast, so now it has changed a lot. But at the end, I managed to play with my forehand, so I’m really happy.”
He goes on to face Daniel Altmaier – a lucky loser that replaced Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard who withdrew with illness – who recovered from dropping the first set before coming through 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Aleksandar Kovacevic. “Every time that we are playing, we have great battles, so it’s not going to be easy. Let’s see if I can if I can get the win or it’s going to be tough,” said Fils.
Meanwhile, qualifier Andrea Vavassori advanced to the next round when opponent Felix Auger-Aliassime had to withdraw with the score level at a set all due to issues with his feet, suffering a recurrence of an ingrowing toenail which flared up last year. He hopes to have the procedure in the next few days and plans a quick return to the tour, scheduling Doha as his next event before the back-to-back Masters in Indian Wells and Miami next month.
The Italian dropped the first set on a close tie break but took the second 6-4 and admitted he had no indication that his opponent would withdraw. The World number 317 brought his expertise in doubles to the singles court and looked extremely sharp at the net, producing a rare hot-dog volley in the first set followed by a backhand drop-shot volley winner.
“The first thing to say is that it was a good set and level, the serve was really tough to break,” said Vavassori afterwards. “I’m sorry that he could not have continued. It was it was a great opportunity for me to play in such a stadium, so grateful to be in the next round. I have to show some doubles things! I am one of the few doubles players that also play singles, so have to play for them also!”
In his next match he faces top seed Carlos Alcaraz and has good memories of their first encounter in Buenos Aires last year.
“Last year was an amazing match on the centre court, I was a really high in confidence because I went through the qualifying matches and it was an amazing atmosphere with a full crowd, so I look forward to play tomorrow night. [Carlos] is a great guy, good player, so look forward to it.”
Former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini fell in a two-hour twenty-one-minute battle to home player Tallon Griekspoor in their first meeting. The Dutchman prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4) in front of a raucous crowd who were thoroughly entertained throughout.
Griekspoor started quickly and broke serve to go 4-2 up when the Italian framed a wild forehand on breakpoint. He took the set in less than half an hour and looked on course for a straight sets victory but Berrettini upped his game in the second set breaker. The third set went with serve and another breaker was needed to decide the winner. A brilliant return by Griekspoor, along with an untimely double fault from his opponent was enough to squeeze him over the line.
“It was quite a battle from the first point to the last,” said Griekspoor afterwards. “I knew from the beginning that it was going to be two or even three tie-breaks. We were both quite dominant on the serve, we were both looking to use the forehand after the serve. I felt that he was a bit better in the third whereas I was a bit better in the second but in the end I’m happy with how it ended and I made him play. I served well in the third set tie break which definitely helped me.”
He now goes on to face Stefanos Tsitsipas and was excited by the prospect of reaching the quarter finals in front of his home crowd.
“Another tough and big battle against Stefanos, he serves well and uses the forehand. So, it’s up to me to find a gameplan to get him stuck in the backhand corner as much as possible. I also have to take care of my own game first and see if I get a few chances. He’s a very good player and been there many years, hopefully the crowd can get behind me.
In other first round results, Fabian Marozsan battled his way to a three-set win over Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) and Hubert Hurkacz went through when leading 7-5 and 2-0 before Jiri Lehecka retired with injury.
