Wolf Resists Maestrelli Charge To Advance In Florence

Giampiero Sposito

There was little time for J.J. Wolf to find his feet Monday in Florence thanks to a lightning-fast start by Francesco Maestrelli, but the American clicked into gear to rally to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 first-round victory at the UniCredit Firenze Open.

#NextGenATP Italian Maestrelli enjoyed the perfect opening to his tour-level main-draw debut as he broke Wolf’s serve in the first game of the match. The 19-year-old home wild card backed that early success up with strong serving to seal the first set, but Wolf’s greater consistency then proved decisive as the World No. 72 clinched a one-hour, 56-minute comeback win.

“He’s a super good young player, a lot of credit to him,” said Wolf after the match. “I didn’t even think I came out that badly. He really made me play in that first game and he was serving huge. If you’re making mistakes, you’re going to lose that match, so I really had to lock it down.”

The 23-year-old Wolf fired 16 winners to Maestrelli’s 20 but was particularly aggressive on return, converting four from eight break point chances to set a second-round meeting against fellow American Maxime Cressy.

Two more #NextGenATP Italians were also unable to reach the second round. Twenty-year-old Flavio Cobolli led Frenchman Corentin Moutet by a set and a break, but Moutet rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory. Turkish qualifier Altug Celikbilek ousted 20-year-old Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 6-2.

Roberto Carballes Baena will take on home favourite and second seed Matteo Berrettini in the second round after the Spaniard cruised past Daniel Elahi Galan 6-2, 6-1. A confident Carballes Baena secured victory in 74 minutes to back up his excellent form on the ATP Challenger Tour in recent weeks — he lifted his 10th title at that level in Seville in early September before reaching quarter-finals in Szczecin and Parma.

Also on Monday, fifth seed Aslan Karatsev advanced after Tallon Griekspoor retired from the pair’s first-round match. Karatsev had led 6-3, 2-1 when the Dutchman was forced to stop, and the three-time tour-level titlist next faces Tim van Rijthoven or Mikael Ymer.