Matteo Berrettini, number 6, advanced to the round of 16 of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 on Tuesday, defeating South African Lloyd Harris 6-4, 7-5.
Berrettini, who had never made the 3rd round of this tournament so far, relied so often on his big first ball (12 aces, 88% of the points he scored in the first few balls) to make a difference.
That did not stop him from serving once in the second set, and then Harris took off 4-1.
The 25-year-old Roman was then going through a moment of turmoil. “I was a little nervous, I did not like it and I let my anger go a little. “Sometimes I feel good,” he said on the pitch.
Not wanting to start the 3rd set, he was able to regain the lead in the exchanges, after a small drop, to win six of the seven seven games, after 1h34.
Does he feel like a favorite in the table because he is the player with the highest score there? “It’s good to know that, but those who are there are the ones who play the best tennis. “Anyway, I feel good to be in the round of 16 here for the first time,” he said.
Berrettini, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in January, will face Miomir Kecmanovic, who had finished in 8th place, in the next round.
The Serb (61st in the world) won 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 against the Dutch Botic van de Zanchulp (47th), after a very close duel.
