STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Matteo Berrettini marked his injury comeback with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Radu Albot in the second round of the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Berrettini was playing in his first match since undergoing surgery on his right hand in March.
The Italian, who won the tournament in 2019, cruised in the opening set but was pegged back in the second. He fended off two break points to hold in the first game of the third set and pushed on from there to seal a hard-fought win in just under two hours.
Berrettini next plays either compatriot Lorenzo Sonego or home favorite Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals at the grass-court tournament.
Also, Benjamin Bonzi defeated fellow French player Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (3), 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against either fourth-seeded Denis Shapovalov or German player Oscar Otte.