Tennis, Arnaldi makes a splash in Madrid: beats Tiafoe and goes to the quarterfinals

Matteo Arnaldi advances to the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid (clay, prize money 8,055,385 euros). The 24-year-old Ligurian, number 44 in the world, defeated the 27-year-old American Frances Tiafoe, number 17 in the ATP ranking and 16 in the seeding, with a score of 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 38 minutes.

"I have a special feeling in this tournament, I had already beaten Ruud before Djokovic. I'm playing well, I'm happy, of course beating Nole gives you energy. I'm happy to have reached the quarterfinals, I'll try to prepare myself as best I can". Matteo Arnaldi is fully satisfied after his victory against Frances Tiafoe: "I'm happy with how I played, I was attentive from the first to the last ball. We played with Frances at Wimbledon, I lost in the fifth. It's always complicated with him. I saved a lot of break points, then I broke his serve. I felt pressure at the end, but I put my tennis back together in the final and I won".

ATP Madrid Open 2025, Matteo Arnaldi vs Frances Tiafoe, 30 April 2025 (Afp)