Arnaldi Earns Victory On Umag Debut

Italian Matteo Arnaldi earned victory on debut at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag on Tuesday when he overcame Dutch qualifier Jesper De Dong 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round.

The 22-year-old, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2022, won 77 per cent (20/26) of his first-serve points and broke De Dong four times to triumph one hour and 33 minutes at the clay-court ATP 250.

The seventh seed Arnaldi has now earned seven tour-level wins this year, with his best result a run to the third round in Madrid. He will next play countryman Flavio Cobolli.

In other action, Hungarian Zsombor Piros beat Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 6-4. The World No. 124 has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles this year.

Several other matches on the schedule, including Stan Wawrinka’s clash against Filip Misolic, were cancelled due to rain.