Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain beat second seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 5-7 7-6 7-5 in an epic second round match at the Firenze Open in Florence on Wednesday.
The match lasted for more than three hours.
The 29-year-old Spaniard will take on Mikael Ymer of Sweden in the quarterfinals on Friday.
It was a big upset as Berrettini, playing in front of his home crowd, was one of the favorites to win the title. Now, we will take a look at three keys to the match:
Three keys to Roberto Carballes Baena’s win over Matteo Berrettini
#1. Berrettini dominated initially with his powerful serve and forehand:
Berrettini was supposed to savor the slightly faster conditions on the indoor hard court of Florence and the first set vindicated that notion. The Italian hit quite a few big serves and big forehands from an advanced court position as Carballes Baena struggled to deal with his powerful first serve.
Berrettini got an early break in the first set and never lost his serve to win it. He landed a few short returns, which were duly punished for some outright winners by Berrettini.
#2. Carballes Baena showed his resilience from the second set onwards:
However, Carballes Baena was not to be subdued by his issues in the first set. Berrettini got a break in the very first game of the second set, but the Spaniard came back to win three consecutive games. The set then went into a tie-break that Carballes Baena managed to win. The Spaniard again bounced back from a 2-5 deficit to win five consecutive games in the third set to finish the match.
The Spaniard rushed the net more often to put Berrettini under pressure and that tactic worked as the Italian hit a number of his shots into the net while trying to pass his opponent. Carballes Baena also pushed the Italian into his backhand corner at times and then hit down-the-line winners with his backhand to the open court.
#3. Berrettini’s backhand and second serve were his undoing:
As powerful as his first serve was, Berrettini’s inconsistency with his second serve led to his downfall. Despite hitting 13 aces and winning 77% of the points on his first serve, the Italian could win only 38% of the points on his second delivery against his opponent’s 57%.
Moreover, the Italian struggled to hit winners off his backhand as his down-the-line backhand hit the net on match point. Carballes Baena managed to save nine of the 14 break point opportunities in the match, while the Italian could not save any of the five he faced.
Main Photo from Getty.
