Tennis, ATP Brisbane: Arnaldi through in qualifying, Bellucci out

Milan, Jan. 3 (LaPresse) – Matteo Arnaldi’s 2026 starts with a win. The player from Sanremo came through the first round of qualifying at the Brisbane International presented by ANZ, an ATP 250 event held at the Queensland Tennis Centre in the Australian city. Arnaldi, world No. 61 and top seed, defeated France’s Hugo Gaston (No. 96) 6–1, 5–7, 7–6(5), saving two match points in the tenth game of the third set. Last year, on the clay of Geneva, the Italian had won the only previous meeting between the two. If he wins again, in the final qualifying round for a place in the main draw he will face Rinky Hijikata (No. 113 in the draw with a wild card), who has beaten him in both of their previous head-to-heads. It was not a happy start to 2026 for Bellucci, world No. 76, who lost 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(3) to former top-10 player Pablo Carreno Busta (now No. 93) and was knocked out.