Another Italian

Matteo down, bring on Lorenzo...

Well, good start for Ugo. A clean win without any real worries against Berrettini. I found him good, but not exceptional (he didn't have to be)... he was able to control the match fully, spreading the court well, exploiting Matteo's backhand and movement! I would give a somewhat similar rating to Sonego so far. A very easy win against Fery in the first round and a tight serve-dominated first set against Kovacevic before running away with the second set. Ugo and Sonego are very familiar with each other, having faced eight times already. There is quite a clear pattern to be found in their history... Humbert has been dominant on grass and hardcourt, while Sonego has been able to grind him down in more tight encounters on clay. As mentioned in other previews, Sonego is a lot better when he is the one who is in charge. When that's the case, he has time to find some good offensive forehands that he can follow up at the net, where he is very good! If he is the one who has to defend instead, it becomes hard for him to turn the rallies around; he is unable to find enough depth with his shots to regain some court position, and despite good court coverage and speed, it becomes a hard task to win points that way. And that's what tends to happen when these two face off on faster surfaces: they already played once on grass and once on hardcourt this year, with Humbert winning both in straight sets rather easily. At least for Sonego, they are playing in slower conditions now in Stockholm compared to Eastbourne and Marseille. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Sonego approaches this match, cause he needs to change something. I can't think of any other solutions for him besides being really aggressive and trying to dictate instead of being sent around the court and facing the same fate as Berrettini. However, can he sustain this playstyle without bleeding too many errors...?