pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-berrettini/bk40/overview'Matteo Berrettini/a maintained his perfect record against lower-ranked players in 2024 with a commanding first-round victory Monday at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/stockholm/429/overview'BNP Paribas Nordic Open/a in Stockholm./p
pThe Italianrsquo;s ferocious forehand was on full display in a 6-4, 6-3 win over countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/luciano-darderi/d0fj/overview'Luciano Darderi/a. The 28-year-old was forced to rally from a break down in the opening set, but clicked into gear in the second, sealing the contest in one hour and 17 minutes./p
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p /"I think I played a solid match. Even though we are both Italian, we had never played against each other, so I didn't know what to expect," Berrettini said. "It's my first time here in Stockholm, and my first hit on centre court, so new things, but I think my attitude was really good. The more I was playing, the more I was feeling good."
pImproving to 17-0 in 2024 against opponents who sit below him in the PIF ATP Rankings, Berrettini won 89 per cent (31/35) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats./p
pElsewhere at the ATP 250, seventh seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tallon-griekspoor/gj37/overview'Tallon Griekspoor/a cruised past a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pavel-kotov/k09f/overview'Pavel Kotov/a with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph. With his one-hour, 12-minute win, the Dutchman improved to a 9-2 record in opening-round matches on hard courts this year./p
pGriekspoor struck eight aces en route to claiming his second consecutive win over Kotov, levelling the pairrsquo;s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 2-2./p
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lorenzo-sonego/su87/overview'Lorenzo Sonego/a also made a winning start in Stockholm, getting the better of qualifier a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marc-andrea-huesler/hh06/overview'Marc-Andrea Huesler/a 7-6(1), 7-5 in an entertaining first-round clash./p
p /[NEWSLETTER FORM]
