Napolitano e Vincent Ruggeri fermati nei quarti a Oeiras su SuperTennis
Samuel Vincent Ruggeri and Stefano Napolitano’s run at the “Oeiras Open 3” comes to an end in the quarterfinals (Challenger 125 – prize money 148,625 euros) held on the Portuguese red clay court. The 21-year-old from Bergamo, ranked 272, who came through the qualifying rounds, was defeated 6-3 6-4, in an hour and 26 minutes, by Argentine Francisco Comesana, ranked 115 ATP and the fourth seed.
The 25-year-old from Mar del Plata had won their only previous encounter in straight sets, played in the Verona Challenger round of 16 last year, also on clay. In the first set, the Lombard came back from a tricky second game where he saved three break points. Against a solid opponent on serve (not a single break point allowed throughout the match), Vincent Ruggeri paid the price for a lapse in concentration from 3-3, allowing Comesana to reel off five consecutive games to take the set 6-3 and then start with a break in the second set (2-0).
It is worth noting that in both service games lost by the Bergamo player (fifth game of the first set and first game of the second set), double faults contributed to the complications. Vincent Ruggeri managed to stay close and in the ninth game, despite two double faults (5 in total), he saved two match points (5-4) but in the following game Comesana held serve to love for the fifth time, closing out the set 6-4 with a strong first serve.
In the semifinals, Comesana will face Portuguese player Jaime Faria, ranked 255, who has fully rewarded the organizers for the wild card granted to him. There are no previous meetings between the two.
