Arnaldi gives Italians bright future
For the first time in the Open Era, Italy had reason to celebrate multiple players through to the fourth round at Roland-Garros in both men’s and women’s singles draws after Arnaldi, Jannik Sinner, Jasmine Paolini and Elisabetta Cocciaretto sailed through.
While Arnaldi’s campaign ended, the Italian men’s No.3 left with his head held high after wins over the likes of 29th seed Arthur Fils and Rublev for his second fourth round at a major following last year’s US Open.
“He’s one of the biggest fighters I’ve played in tennis, and he deserves a lot of credit because he was pushing me to the limits,” Tsitsipas said. “He’s one of the strongest opponents I’ve had on the clay-court season so far. I really think we’re going to see a lot of things from him in the future.
“There are players at certain moments who are fragile, but he seemed very composed and very strong in those crucial moments, so I had to work double the amount that I’m usually used to.”