First men’s second-round match, first upset: De Minaur defeated by Arnaldi, Jodar next
Italian wild card Matteo Arnaldi pulled off the first upset of the Rome second round on Friday, beating world number eight Alex de Minaur 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in just under three hours. He now faces 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar.
Alex de Minaur, 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
The first second-round match in Rome produced the first upset. Matteo Arnaldi, the Sanremo-born wild card, beat eighth seed Alex de Minaur 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in two hours and 56 minutes on Friday at the Foro Italico, sending the Australian out of the tournament and earning himself a third-round meeting with Rafael Jodar.
For Arnaldi it is a significant result on multiple counts. It is his sixth career win over a top-10 player, and his first since he beat Novak Djokovic in Madrid a year ago. It is his seventh consecutive victory across Cagliari – where he won the Challenger 175 title on Wednesday – and Rome. And it returns him, virtually, inside the world’s top 100, after a foot injury that had dragged him down to No. 106 and forced him into Rome on a wild card.
Arnaldi was visibly emotional in his post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia. “I’m happy. If two months ago you’d told me I’d win a match like this, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said. “I’ve worked hard. I’m not at 100% yet, but I’m finding myself again. If I play the way I know I can, I can beat strong players like Alex.”
After the foot injury
It is, on the evidence of his recent run, the win he needed. Arnaldi has spent the spring rebuilding from the foot injury, working under new coach Fabio Colangelo – formerly of Lorenzo Sonego’s team – who will travel with him to Roland-Garros. The Cagliari title was the first concrete sign that the work was paying off. Beating a top-10 player on a centre court in Rome, in front of a partisan home crowd, is a different order of evidence.
The third round will bring a less predictable challenge. Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard who reached the Madrid quarter-finals last week, opened his Rome campaign earlier on Friday with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Nuno Borges and is now seeded for the first time in a Masters 1000 main draw. Asked about Arnaldi after his own match, Jodar was unsentimental.
“I haven’t seen him play a lot,” Jodar said. “But everyone here is really good. If he has won already two matches, it’s because of something. He’s a great player, so I have to recover well and try to get ready for that match, because it’s going to be very tough.”
The two have not met before. Jodar is the higher-ranked player and, on current form, the favourite. But Arnaldi will have the home crowd that, by his own account today, helped carry him through the third set against De Minaur – and a streak of seven straight wins behind him. The first upset of the round may not be the last.
Rome Masters 1000’s second round
Sinner (1) vs Ofner — scheduled
Popyrin vs Mensik (26) — scheduled
Tiafoe (20) vs Buse — scheduled
Pellegrino (Q) vs Fils (15) — scheduled
Rublev (12) vs Kecmanovic — scheduled
Garin (Q) vs Davidovich Fokina (21) — scheduled
Nakashima (30) vs Bautista Agut — scheduled
Basilashvili (Q) vs Shelton (5) — scheduled
Auger-Aliassime (4) vs Navone — scheduled
Medjedovic vs Fonseca (27) — scheduled
Etcheverry (24) vs Bellucci — scheduled
Cilic vs Landaluce (LL) — scheduled
Cobolli (10) vs Atmane — scheduled
Tirante vs Norrie (17) — scheduled
Moutet (28) vs Llamas Ruiz (Q) — scheduled
Machac vs Medvedev (7) — scheduled
Musetti (8) vs Mpetshi Perricard — scheduled
Cerundolo F.(25) – Tabilo 6-0, 6-2
Ruud (23) d. Svajda 6-1, 6-3
Lehecka (11) d. Struff 7-6, 6-3
Khachanov (13) vs Shevchenko 6-4, 6-4 — in progress
Van de Zandschulp d. Kovacevic (LL) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6
Humbert (31) vs Kopriva
Prizmic (Q) vs Djokovic (3)
Arnaldi (WC) d. De Minaur (6) 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
Jodar (32) d. Borges 7-6, 6-4
Tien (19) d. Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1
Bublik (9) d. Baez 6-1, 6-2
Paul (16) d. Vukic 6-4, 6-2
Hanfmann vs Darderi (18) — scheduled
Griekspoor (29) vs Blockx — scheduled
Zverev (2) d. Altmaier 7-5, 6-3
