Not many may have seen it on Court 14, a very small venue below the balconies of Centre Court and the media pavilion, but Lorenzo Sonego vs. Brandon Nakashima in the Wimbledon third round was the match of the tournament to date.
It was also the longest match of the Championships, as five hours and four minutes were required to separate the two competitors. In the end, Sonego came back from a break down in the fifth set to triumph 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(10-3) on Saturday evening.
“Incredible match today,” the Italian assured. “Really tough; great battle. He played unbelievable today, and I tried to do my best on my serve. I was really aggressive after the first set. Yeah, I’m so happy to reach the fourth round.”
Sonego’s reward for reaching the fourth round is a matchup with an extremely familiar foe. If Sonego and Shelton also end up facing each other at the U.S. Open later this summer, they will complete the calendar-year head-to-head Grand Slam–because they have already squared off at the Australian Open and French Open.
Those meetings certainly did not disappoint. Shelton won both, in a fourth-set tiebreaker at Melbourne Park and in five sets at Roland Garros. Their overall rivalry stands at 3-1 in the American’s favor. He also prevailed in a three-set thriller at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters before Sonego won in four sets at the 2023 French Open.
Now they are set for a Wimbledon showdown on the second Monday at the All-England Club.
“He’s a big-match player, a Grand Slam player, and you guys saw some of the hot shots tonight,” Shelton said of Sonego following their recent Roland Garros tussle. “Some crazy tennis from him, and I love sharing the court with him.”
What will Sonego do for an encore following Saturday’s heroics? It will be difficult to surpass or even equal the Nakashima roller-coaster…but if any matchup can, it’s one with Shelton.
who ya got?
Shelton in 4
Please can you make the WTA thread available again Ricky 🙏
No worries found it