Roland Garros, Berrettini reaches Musetti and Sinner in the second round

Matteo Berrettini at Roland Garros (Ansa)

• Roland Garros: Musetti in the second round, his derby with Cecchinato.

  Sinner also wins

• Roland Garros, Fognini eliminated in the third round

• Roland Garros: in the third round Berrettini, Sinner, Musetti and Cecchinato

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05 June 2021Three Azzurri reach the round of 16 of Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the current season on the Parisian clay court. There is a "golden generation of Italian tennis", as an article in the New York Times also called it on the eve of the third round, with five Italians involved.

The first to qualify was

. With a test that came close to perfection Musetti, in his first Major, won the derby against Marco Cecchinato in the fifth set, reaching the fourth round where he will find the Serbian Djokovic, number one in the world, in the 17th consecutive presence in this tournament where he triumphed. in 2016 (but he was also a finalist in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2020).

A fairytale for the youngest player on the Italian team who turned 19 last March. The Tuscan Next Gen, number 76 in the ranking, won for 3-6 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3, in three hours and 7 minutes, the match against the 28-year-old Sicilian becoming the second Italian in the era Open to reach the round of 16 at the first main draw Slam: he equals Francesco Cancellotti who in 1984 also passed three rounds at the first Major in his career. Under a set the Tuscan from Carrara put the match back in balance in the second fraction, he stretched in the third and then suffered the reaction of the Sicilian who managed to find his serve and immediately take a break in the fourth game and then drag the challenge to the fifth. Musetti overcame a difficult moment at the start, then in the fourth game he snatched the serve from the third useful ball.Cecchinato got nervous and Musetti took the opportunity to close the account, lie down on the ground and turn the dream into reality. On Monday he will face the number one who eliminated Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis in 92 minutes, without giving him any break points (6-1, 6-4, 6-1).

It was then the turn of

, who once again reaches the second round, replicating last year's goal when as an absolute rookie he surrendered only in the quarters to the 'lord of the earth' (and of Paris) Rafa Nadal. Well, the 19 year old from Sesto Pusteria, number 19 ATP and 18th seed, settled for 6-1 7-5 6-3, in two hours and 22 minutes of play, the Swede Mikael Ymer, number 105 in the ranking, and next Monday he will see it again against Nadal, with whom he trained last January in view of the Australian Open and from which he was again defeated at the Internazionali d'Italia last month in the round of 32 with a score of 7-5 6-4. To oust a colossus like the invincible Spaniard is much more than a business. And one figure would be enough to highlight it.Nadal on the Parisian clay has played 105 matches winning 103 (the only two defeats were with the Swedish Robin Soderling in 2009 in the fourth round and in 2015 in the quarterfinals against Djokovic), the last today against the British Cameron Norrie, number 45 in the ranking international, folded with a triple 6-3. But dreaming is not forbidden.

Finally, in the evening, the success of

. The 25-year-old Roman, number 9 in the ranking and seeding - who this year on the "red" (12 wins and 3 defeats so far) boasts the title in Belgrade and the final in the '1000' in Madrid - has overtaken the South Korean Kwon Soon -woo, number 91 of the ranking (which eliminated Andreas Seppi), in three sets with the score of 7-6 (6) 6-3 6-4 in 2 hours and 1 4 ". The blue will face the winner of the challenge between the Swiss champion Roger Federer and the German Dominik Koepfer.