Salvatore Caruso booked his spot into the quarterfinals of the Sofia Open by upsetting the number two seed and Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 6-4, and 6-4.
Italian magic :
The first four games of the match went on serve and at 3-2 the Montreal native had the first breakpoint of the match when the Italian sent a return into the net. The Avola, Italy native did a good job saving it forcing the error from his Canadian opponent.
He managed to hold serve and in the very next game had a chance to break when the number two seed double-faulted to set up the breakpoint. He would break the Canadian as the world number 21 would send a ball long to take a 4-3 lead.
The 82nd ranked player in the world had no holding serve to consolidate the break and served out the set to take it 6-4.
The Italian sends the Canadian packing :
The first three games of the second set went on serve and at 2-1 the Canadian had five break points but the Italian managed to save them all when the number two seed had issues finishing points and sending balls out.
The very next game Caruso had breakpoints of his very own once again off a double fault from the world number 21 and broke when the Montreal native once again hit another unforced error to take a 3-2 lead.
The world number 82 had a chance to go up another break but that breakpoint was saved with a big serve from the Canadian. The Italian would serve it out to book his spot in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
" I think I played a really solid match, on my serve my serve was very solid today, I was feeling very confident not just my serve but my strokes from the baseline and I didn't make any mistakes".
In that match, he will face Richard Gasquet who beat Jonas Forejtek.
Day 3 results :
Six matches were played today and here are the results from Day 3 at the Sofia Open. Alex De Minaur the tournament number three seed beat Aslan Karatsev 6-4, 7-5, Jannik Sinner set up a mouthwatering quarterfinal with De Minaur by beating Marc-Andrea Huesler. John Millman ended Gilles Simon season by beating him in the longest match in Sofia Open history, a three-set battle that lasted three hours and 15 minutes.
Here are some post-match quotes from the matches today.
" I'm happy that I won, I'm happy that I get to stay here longer and I just need to recover", stated John Millman
"Very happy with the win today against a very tough opponent and it was a very tricky match and I am very happy I was able to get the win and have a very positive start to the Sofia Open". Alex De Minaur
"Energy level is good, I feel great on court, sometimes I prefer to play back to back because I stay more in the rythym, feel the court a little better, physically I feel well and I am ready for tomorrow", said Jannik Sinner