Federico Gaio Advances to Semi-Finals as Italy’s Last Hope at Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol

Federico Gaio is in the semi-finals. © Diego Runggaldier

Federico Gaio lived up to his role as favorite at the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol in the quarter-finals and is now the Azzurri’s last hope.

27. October 2023

From: pm/det

The number 3 in the tournament won the Italian duel against sensation Luca Giacomini 7:6 (3), 7:6 (2) and was the only seed to reach the semi-finals at South Tyrol’s most important tennis tournament. On Saturday Gaio will play Poland’s Maks Kasnikowski for a place in Sunday’s final. The second semi-final is Lukas Klein (Slovakia) against Billy Harris (Great Britain).

Gaio started, as befits his standing, with a break in the first game, but Giacomini, as in previous matches, fought for every ball, showed excellent tennis and equalized to 3-3. The first set was decided in a tiebreak, which the favorite secured. In the second set Giacomini started with a break, this time Gaio equalized to 2:2, he took the lead 5:3 and served to win the match, but he conceded the break and even had three break points at 5:5, 0:40 Ward off consequences. In the tiebreak, Gaio took a 6-0 lead and converted the third match point after 1:53 hours in a high-class and exciting match.

Excitement before the semi-finals

“Giacomini plays very well on this surface, he puts pressure and hardly makes any mistakes, so it wasn’t easy. But I served well in the first set and I also did well at 5:5 in the second set. I slept a bit when I was 5-4 up,” says Gaio, who doesn’t know his semi-final opponent Kasnikowski. “But I will study him carefully.”

Lukas Klein played well. © Diego Runggaldier

Enrico Dalla Valle had nothing to report against Lukas Klein, the virtual number 1 of the tournament, and lost 3:6, 2:6. The world number 181. from Slovakia, who reached the final in Val Gardena last year, had to go through the qualification this time because he had only decided to start in Ortisei at short notice. Klein dominated the game to the core, only giving up nine points on his own serve. Dalla Valle had to fend off two break points to make it 0:4, but he still couldn’t make up for the break in the second game. In the second round, Klein added a break to make it 1-0. The Slovakian showed great tennis, missed two break points to take a 3-0 lead, but he took serve from Dalla Valle to make it 5-2 and served confidently to win the match after 68 minutes.

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2023-10-27 21:02:46
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