Federico Arnaboldi advances to quarterfinals of Atkinsons Monza Open 25

The air of home seems to bring good luck to Federico Arnaboldi, first Italian to qualify for the quarter-finals of theAtkinsons Monza Open 25The 25-year-old from Brianza, supported by relatives and friends who came from nearby Cantù and assisted in the corner by his cousin Andrea who has been training him for a few months after hanging up his racket, overturned the predictions by beating the Argentine with a clear 6/2, 6/4 Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who precedes him by 92 positions in the world rankings (125 against 217). Precise in his shots and above all lucid in his match tactics, Arnaboldi left no escape for the South American, granting the audience a single moment of thrill, when he found himself from 3/0 with a break advantage in the second set to 3/4 also with a break disadvantage, before taking back the reins of the match and stringing together three consecutive games that earned him tomorrow's challenge against the Frenchman Luca Van Assche. "I'm very happy with this result - said Federico, who reached the quarterfinals of a Challenger for the third time this season after Nonthaburi on hard court in January and Naples last week -. I felt good until halfway through the second set, he is an uncomfortable player because if you fall into his trap of losing patience, it's difficult to get out of it. It happened to me, I had the balls to go 4/0 in the second and once I squandered the opportunity, I risked throwing everything away. Luckily Cerundolo started making mistakes again, and the change of balls at 4 all helped me".

"I wanted to make a good impression - he confesses - because I played three years in Serie A in this club, I know almost everyone. There is always a good atmosphere, I almost didn't come because of a little physical problem that fortunately I resolved. I am finding consistency of results also because clay is the surface I prefer. Now the attitude is right, I can continue to get good results. I don't know Van Assche, I think he is similar in terms of player type to Cerundolo. I aim to go below number 150, even if we know that the level must always be higher".