Lorenzo Sonego’s had a perfect week at the Moselle Open, and he continued it on Wednesday at Sofia Open 2022.
The Italian downed Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6:3, 6:4 in his first match in the Bulgarian capital. This was Sonego’s sixth in a row without losing a single set.
“I am very happy with my game. I played aggressively, I showed my best,” Sonego said in the on-court interview. “Zapata is a wall, a big wall. The key today was to serve really well and that’s exactly what I did. I was variable with my serve,” added the Italian, who now leads the World No. 78 2-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series. He never gave Bernabe Zapata Miralles even a single break point.
The Italian won 86 per cent (32/37) of points behind his first delivery en route to a 79-minute victory
Just on Sunday, Turin-born claimed his first ATP Tour title of 2022 – at the ATP 250 indoor hard-court event in Metz. Sunday’s final was Sonego’s first on the ATP Tour since Eastbourne in June 2021. Sonego’s run in north-eastern France has propelled the Italian up 21 spots to No. 44 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.
His previous Tour titles were won on grass in Antalya in 2019 and clay in Cagliari in 2021. The 27-year-old is the fourth Italian tour-level singles champion of the year, with Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner also lifting trophies in 2022, two of whom – Musetti and Sinner are also in Sofia.
Sonego’s next opponent will be the fifth seed Holger Rune from Denmark.
Marc-Andrea Huesler won his maiden Sofia Open 2022 win stopping one of the big winners from the qualifiers – Geoffrey Blankaneaux 6:4, 6:4. Next the Swiss will face second seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the Spaniard’s debut in “Arena Aremeec”.
