Bellucci channels compatriot Sinner for inspiration

Bellucci, a southpaw who admittedly prefers hard courts to clay, looked to be headed to an easy victory on Court No.8, but former world No.31 Harris made him work for it in the second set. 

Bellucci saved a pair of set points and braved a brief rain delay as the Paris skies spitting down for a spell as the covers came on, before finally closing out his win in one hour and 56 minutes. 

“To be honest I thought I was playing very good in the first set,” the world No.173 told rolandgarros.com. “And then the second set was way tougher. He started playing very good, and from the beginning of the second set the match changed quite a lot. I was a break down and then managed to break him again – I was trying to be as solid as I could.” 

Bellucci had never won a match at Roland-Garros, qualifying or otherwise, prior to this week. He said he would be elated to take his place in the main draw for the first time. 

“For me it would be amazing,” said Bellucci, who faces Spain’s Alejandro Amoro Canas in the final round of qualifying. “I already qualified in Australia (in 2023), but clay is not my favourite surface. So to do it here it would mean something special. It would mean that I can also play on this surface – right now I think that I can, obviously, but it would be even better to qualify.” 

Sinner serves as inspiration 

Bellucci is part of the next wave of Italian men’s tennis that is spearheaded by Jannik Sinner. At this year’s Australian Open in January, Sinner became the first man from his country to win a major singles title since 1976.

He is now the highest-ranked Italian man in history at No.2 and has a chance to displace Novak Djokovic as the new world No.1 after Roland-Garros.

It fosters a positive vibe among the Italians, with Sinner representing what can be achieved through hard work and patience. 

“We are definitely close,” Bellucci said of his compatriots, six of whom were in action during qualifying on Wednesday. “I didn’t take the same path as they did because I didn’t play the junior Grand Slams and they did, so we had different paths, but at the same time I feel like the movement is going well and is super healthy.” 

Bellucci said watching Sinner reach the pinnacle of the sport in Australia provided motivation for all Italian players. 

“Australia was definitely something that brought many people to tennis in Italy, and at the same time the movement started to be even better,” he said. “He’s a great guy, so also it’s a very good image for us, and we are trying to do the same.” 

Sinner’s ability to focus more on improving his game step by step, while not paying too much attention to rankings, is something Bellucci is trying to emulate.

“I feel that he’s doing things the right way,” he said of Sinner. “He’s not keeping his eye focused too much on results.

“I think that every time he steps on the court he’s learning and that is something that I didn’t do much in the previous years. I was focusing too much on the result, so now I’m trying to change it, and this is helping me now, and going to help me more in the future.

"I really think I’m going to achieve something better than I am doing right now.” 

It kickstarted an impressive day for young Italians. Fellow 22-year-old Matteo Gigante had a tougher time of it before he joined Bellucci in the final round.

The 28th seed recovered to edge out Czech Dalibor Svrcina 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and set a clash with Brazilian Gustavo Heide.

A third 22-year-old Italian, Giulio Zeppieri, also booked his place in the final round following a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Bulgarian Adrian Andreev. The 31st seed will meet Dominic Thiem's conqueror Otto Virtanen for a place in the main draw.

The youngest Italian of the seven who started the day, 21-year-old Francesco Maestrelli, advanced to a third-round qualifying meeting with Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin after Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles retired injured after the first set.

Of three further Italians in action Andrea Vavassori also advanced, while Andrea Pellegrino and Napolitano bowed out.

Late in the day, Argentina's Diego Schwartzman played his final match at Roland-Garros after losing a tight second round contest with Quentin Halys, the Frenchman edging through 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7).

The 2020 men's singles semi-finalist told fans recently that he will end his career early in 2025, and he struggled to control his emotions during a post-match interview on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

"The last match here shows how I've played my whole career here," he told the crowd. "Roland-Garros for me it's very special. I did what I know to do - I fight to win the match [but] he played an amazing match and he deserved to win."