Delray Beach Open: Arnaldi holds off teen Tien, moves into quarter-finals
Matteo Arnaldi edged out Learner Tien 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (1) on Thursday night. He’ll face No 6 seed Brandon Nakashima in the next round
Matteo Arnaldi at the 2024 Australian Open
Image Credit: Icon SMI / Panoramic
Italian Matteo Arnaldi, the No 4 seed, edged out American 19-year-old wildcard Learner Tien 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (1) to reach the last eight of the Delray Beach Open at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center on Thursday night.
The Italian was in deep trouble late in the third, as Tien served for the match leading 5-4, 30-15, but Arnaldi never stopped believing and eventually came through in two hours and 49 minutes.
Arnaldi faced three break points that would have put him double-break 4-1 down in set three, but his comeback started in that game. The Italian finished with 24 aces on the evening.
“It was a very tough match,” Arnaldi said. “Tien started the year amazing and today he showed what he’s capable of, so I’m really happy that I won this match, it was very tight.”
Arnaldi faced another two break points while serving at 2-4 in the third, and saved them both. He saved 10 of 14 break points on the evening. He finished with 43 winners and 57 unforced errors, while Tien hit 23 winners and 38 unforced errors.
“The conditions are very tough, I was sweating, I changed sixty-five t-shirts,” Arnaldi added with a smile.
Arnaldi, ranked No 38, will play No 6 seed Brandon Nakashima next.
In the previous round of the Delray Beach tournament, Tien, ranked No 82, beat Australian Adam Walton (6-4, 6-3).
Delray Beach ATP 250, other second-round results (Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center, hard, USD 680.140, most recent results first):
- Taylor Fritz vs. Yunchaokete Bu
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (8) beat Mackenzie McDonald (WC): 6-2, 5-7, 6-0
- Brandon Nakashima beat Reilly Opelka (WC): 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
- Alex Michelsen (3) beat Michael Mmoh (Q): 6-7 (8), 3-0 ret.
- Marcos Giron (5) beat Ethan Quinn (LL): 6-3, 6-4
- Cameron Norrie beat Arthur Rinderknech (9): 7-6 (9), 6-2
- Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
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