Google News Furious Yoshihito Nishioka destroys three rackets at the Sardinia Open
by LORENZO CIOTTI
The Challenger 175 tournament in Cagliari lost number one seed Yoshihito Nishioka. The Japanese failed to meet the prediction and suffered a searing defeat on his debut against Daniel Elahi Galan. Nishioka won the first set without great difficulty, as evidenced by the only two games lost, but he literally exited the match in the second.
The current number 34 in the ATP ranking appeared quite nervous and, starting from the second half of the game, he destroyed three rackets; the last just after the match point exploited by the opponent.
The Italian newspaper L'Unione Sarda has published the video of the strong gesture made by Nishioka.Here are the pictures.
Nishioka isn't the only seed who dropped out of the Italian tournament prematurely. Only Ugo Humbert, Laslo Djere and Ben Shelton have in fact reached the quarterfinals in Cagliari. Giulio Zeppieri, on the other hand, is the only Italian still in the running and will do his utmost to surpass the promise of American tennis, namely Shelton.
The match between the two will take place at 19:30 on the Central Court of the Sardegna Open. The Roman won the tricolor derby with Andrea Vavassori on his debut at the end of an incredible match that ended only 6-4 in the third set.
Even in the round of 16, Zeppieri challenged a countryman. It is Mattia Bellucci, capable of eliminating Diego Schwartzman. In this case there was absolutely no match, because Zeppieri prevailed with a resounding and severe 6-2, 6-0.
Nishioka on Federer
In a long interview granted in December 2020 to The Digest Web, Nishioka recalled his only direct clash with Roger Federer, which took place in the first round of the 2018 US Open. The Japanese, who was enthusiastic about challenging the Swiss legend, surrendered with the score of 6-2 6-2 6-4 in a one-sided match.
Nishioka said: "I was honestly happy when I saw the draw. First of all, I was over the moon thinking that I was going to play with Federer. Many people have the impression that he is just a perfect player. I have to admit, when I came onto the court, I was so nervous that I literally didn't know what to do for most of the match."