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Aussies 2-0 up, Ecuador left to lamentti
By LEO SCHLINK in Perth
10feb01

PAT Rafter yesterday ushered in a bright new Australian Davis Cup era and banished the ghosts of the recent past with a thumping victory over Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti at Royal King's Park.

The spring-heeled Queenslander set the platform for another Australian success with a powerhouse 6-3 6-0 7-5 victory before ruthless Lleyton Hewitt sheeted home the advantage with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 win over Giovanni Lapentti.

The virtually unchallenged Australian dominance left debutant captain John Fitzgerald nursing a practically impregnable 2-0 lead ahead of the doubles today and the reverse singles tomorrow.

While Hewitt's iron-willed dismissal of raw Giovanni Lapentti was predictable, Rafter expected a more torrid encounter with former top-10 player Nicolas, who was rocked by the dual US Open champion's blistering start.

"I wanted to keep him down," Rafter said. "I felt he had a chance in the third set to get close and it was starting to become a bit of a worry.

"I'd been on top of him the whole match and when you have somebody who competes as well as he does, you never want to give them a sniff. These are my conditions, the conditions I like to play in and it's a surface that he's not comfortable on.

"So you never want to give them a chance in conditions they're not used to to become confident."

Admitting to feeling "punchy and snappy" on the eve of the tie, Rafter was workmanlike in probably the most important match of the weekend to register his 17th win from 25 Cup matches.

Favored early by a string of crucial net-cords, Rafter rode his good fortune from the outset to build a momentum Lapentti was powerless to stem. At the height of the Rafter storm, the Australian won nine games in a row.

Australian Open semi-finalist Lapentti was reduced to a bystander as Rafter ran riot from 5-3 in the first set to 2-0 in the third set, claiming there was nothing he could do to halt the former world No. 1.

"Pat is definitely a much better player on grass and if I wanted to win this match, I would have had to play the match of my life," Lapentti lamented. "There was not one point in the second set when I could find a way."

Trailing 0-2 in the third set, Lapentti opted to take pace off his serve and temporarily managed to disrupt Rafter's rhythm to break back.

But his resistance quickly petered out in the 11th game with a netted backhand, paving the way for Rafter to surge to victory and escape a piercing sun which wreaked havoc on both players' ball toss.

The gaping margin was timely recompense for Rafter, who was cut down by cramps at the Davis Cup final in December and again, in an unrelated attack, in an Australian Open semi-final when leading Andre Agassi by two sets to one.

Drinking a mix of electrolytes and water at every changeover yesterday, Rafter was untroubled in dispatching Lapentti in 34 degrees.

Hewitt, the hero of Australia's valiant 3-1 Davis Cup loss to Spain in Barcelona in December, was relieved and elated after easing to a hollow win while never threatening to hit his straps.

"It's hard, I'd never seen Giovanni play before and I didn't know what to expect out there," Hewitt said.

"I struggled with my first serve, but I was happy with the way my second serve stood up.

"I was disappointed at going out of the Australian Open in the third round, so to come out here and give it everything I had for Davis Cup was great."

Hewitt broke extravagant Lapentti's serve seven times, but appeared almost subdued at times during an idle 96-minute contest, which ended appropriately enough on a Lapentti double fault.

Australia crush Ecuador in singles
Perth, Australia, February 9 "Lapentti brothers overwhelmed by Rafter and Hewitt

Australia’s Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt made short work of Ecuador’s Lapentti brothers, Nicolas and Giovanni, as they gave the home country a 2-0 lead on the opening day of the Davis Cup first round tie.

Australian no. 2 Rafter crushed Ecuador’s no. 2, Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5, in the opening singles rubber before Australian no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt also won in straight sets, beating Giovanni Lapentti 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in the second singles.

Rafter romped home in 105 minutes, while Hewitt completed his mission over the younger of the Lapentti brothers in a mere 96 minutes.

The one-sided opening day leaves Ecuador having to win the doubles Saturday to retain interest in the tie.

The Lapentti brothers will team up in a clash with Australian Todd Woodbridge, top ranked doubles player in the world, and Wayne Arthurs.

Despite the black day for Ecuador, non-playing captain Raul Viver refused to concede defeat.

"There is still some chance, but it is looking very difficult for us," he said.

"The Australians played very well, and our guys could have played a bit better.

'Immediately after play, the mood of our players was not the best, but we will talk tonight and get them in the right frame of mind for tomorrow."

Viver said people in Ecuador, where Davis Cup interest has increased in recent years, would be disappointed with the team’s early performance.

"But I had warned that it would be very difficult to play Australia on grass," he said.

Australian non-playing captain John Fitzgerald said he was "pretty relaxed" to have taken such a handy early lead.

"It is actually a small relief to be 2-0 up, but I probably would have been disappointed not to have that lead,"he said.

"We have a big job ahead of us Saturday and we still have to finish the job, but I am confident our doubles team can do it."

Rafter admitted he had been a bit concerned in his third set when Nicolas Lapentti belatedly started to fight back.

"When he started to hold serve regularly mid-way through the third set, it started to become a bit of a worry, because I had been on top for the whole time before this," he said.

"I think he was a bit confused for the whole match. He was trying to serve and volley some times, other times he wasn’t.

"I was always trying to keep him down. You never want to give an opponent a sniff of anything.

"He was really behind the eight-ball from the word go."

But Rafter, a dual US Open champion, conceded he had been nervous when he walked on to the court for the start of the match.

It was his first competitive outing since he suffered severe cramp in an Australian Open semi-final against Andre Agassi in Melbourne two weeks ago.

"When you walk on the court you feel the pressure," he said. "I definitely feel it. I was a bit tight and tense. I felt it a bit last night and this morning."

Nicolas Lapentti said: :The key point of the match was my start. I lost my first service game, and for that to happen so early in the match was not good.

"He was on top of me for the first two sets. It took me two sets to realise how I had to play.

"But the main thing is that Pat is a much better player than me on grass. There is no doubt about it.

"To win this, I had to play the match of my life, and it is not easy when you have to change completely the way you play. For me to serve and volley on both serves, it is very difficult.

"If I have to do it, I can do it, but to do it for three sets non-stop is not easy."

Rafter enjoys smooth ride to put Australia in driver's seat

By Linda Pearce

It looked a little like Mildura - the towering gum trees, chirping birds and quaint, almost rural setting of Royal Kings Park in Perth. It had sounded a little like Mildura, with Australia entering the Davis Cup tie as the overwhelming favourites against a minor tennis nation represented by two brothers.

So much for the similarities. Ecuador are no Zimbabwe. The Lapentti lads on grass are no Black family. Three years after that April surprise alongside the River Murray, Australia's team leadership is not all that has changed. Through opening day singles victories to Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt, the hosts have this first round tie by the throat.

Despite 40C-plus courtside temperatures and the problems posed by a tricky midday sun, Rafter outplayed Ecuadorian No 1 Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-0 7-5 to - in the words of coach Wally Masur - "really break the back of this tie".

Hewitt then compounded the fracture 6-3 6-2 6-2 against Giovanni Lapentti in similar time in the all-teen affair that followed.

Indeed, as much as the right noises were being made about the perils of underestimating any opponents until the third point is safely in the bag, and it will still be some time before the memory of Mildura is completely erased, the reverse singles may well be rendered irrelevant by today's doubles result between the Lapenttis and fresh Australian pair Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs.

"We'd like to think they can close it out but we've still got one to go," said John Fitzgerald, after his first day in the courtside captain's chair. "We've got one big job ahead of us tomorrow and you can't count your chickens at this level before they're hatched."

Amid the heat and cliches, it was relief as much as triumph for Rafter, playing his first Davis Cup match since cramping on the opening day of the final in Barcelona, and his first match of any sort since seizing up in the humidity of his Australian Open semi-final against Andre Agassi.

The disappointments of the past two years - missing the successful 1999 final through injury, and failing to finish his only match in the 2000 decider against Spain - have left the dual US Open champion wanting to approach representative play in a more relaxed, philosophical way. The reality, however, is rather different. "I'd like to be like that but every time you walk on the court you feel the pressure and you feel the nerves, and I definitely feel them," Rafter said, admitting that his brother Peter and girlfriend Lara often bear the brunt of his pre-match intensity.

"I get a little bit uptight and a little tense and I felt that a little bit last night and this morning. I become sort of focused and punchy, and that's just what works for me, that's how I like to play and that's how I get around grand slams as well, but when I'm like that I know that I'm ready to play and ready to perform."

As he was yesterday, whizzing through the first two sets in less than an hour and grabbing the early break in the third. Grasscourt tennis is not Lapentti's game, and serve-volleying far from his natural style, yet even when he returned to the comfort of the baseline he found the versatile Rafter willing and able to rally along with him.

Lapentti said he was reduced to slowing down his serve and concentrating on moving more quickly to the net, and the tactic paid off. From 0-2 in the third set, the former world No 6 raised his level to win the next three games, only to falter on serve at 5-5 and watch helplessly as the Australian closed out the match to love.

"Pat's definitely a much better player than me on grass," Lapentti conceded.

"If I wanted to win this match I had to play the match of my life, and it's not easy when you have to change completely the way you play. I'm No 1 player for Ecuador, so there was a lot of responsibilities for me to win this match, as we know that Australia is the favourite."

Ecuadorian captain Raul Antonia Viver admitted the task now looked "very difficult", and as much as Rafter said he did not believe defeat would have affected Australia's chances, the first was an absolutely-must-win rubber for Ecuador, whose cause now appears doomed.

It was too much to expect the powerful but raw Giovanni to compete consistently with Hewitt, who is less than two years his senior but vastly more experienced. And so it proved. Giovanni had his moments but Hewitt had far more, converting eight of his nine break points and confirming Rafter's assessment of his teammate as "in a different class, a different league" to the world No 927.

All of which hands Australia a formidable 2-0 lead entering the doubles, with two more singles chances tomorrow in the unlikely event they be required.

As Rafter said with admirable candour after his match: "If I had lost that I still think we would have won the tie."

Now it is a near certainty and an April quarter-final against either Morocco at home or Brazil away surely awaits. Shades of Mildura? Far from it, in every sense.

Pat Rafter Proves too Good for Nicolas Lapentti
Perth, Feb. 9 (NEC Davis Cup Site)

Pat Rafter has powered his way through to victory against Nicolas Lapentti to
give Australia an important early lead in the Davis Cup by NEC first round
tie against Ecuador. Rafter was all over Lapentti who was becoming frustrated
with how best to tackle the Australian on a surface he has grown up with.

Rafter swept through the match in 1 hour, 37 minutes with aggressive, net
rushing tennis, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.

Possibly the only hiccup in the match for Rafter came early in the third set.
He had won nine games in a row and was leading 2-0 in that set when Lapentti
found some semblance of form and managed to break the 28 year old. It allowed
the Ecuadorian to level the set and he stayed with Rafter till late in the
set. But in the eleventh game the bearded, pony-tailed Aussie with the crowd
in full support broke serve and then he served out the match to love.

"It could have got close and he could have got back into the match, so it was
a bit of a worry when he started to get his serve in," said Rafter. "He
played a good game to break me and he started to turn it around."

Rafter however, felt that Lapentti "was a bit confused in the match". He said
his goal was to keep the pressure on Lapentti and "keep him down".

"When someone starts to compete well you don't want to give him a sniff, he
was behind the eight ball and you never want to give him any confidence,"
added Rafter.

The very warm, windy conditions made it difficult to play but that was the
same for both players, it's just the Australian dealt with them better.

Lapentti made it clear that the key to the match was the slow start he had.
He lost his first service game which gave Rafter the advantage.

"Giving him the advantage so early was not good because he was on top of me
and he was very loose. It took me two sets to realise the way I had to play,
but the faster I played the better Pat got," said Lapentti. "I also found the
grass to be a bit faster, maybe they cut it overnight, so it was hard to play
from the back court.

"If I wanted to win, I had to play the match of my life and it is not easy to
change your game - it is not easy to do it for three sets non-stop so it was
frustrating."

Lapentti was naturally dejected with the outcome but more to the point he
realised for Ecuador to stand a chance in this tie, he had to win that match,
it was the crucial one.

"All the matches are important but in this one was I was the number one
player for Ecuador so there was lots of responsibility to win, but that's
Davis Cup, you have to win three matches," said Lapentti.

Rafter by contrast had no hesitation in saying that even if he had lost that
match, he was still very confident that Australia would come back to win the
best-of-five rubber series.

END--http://www.daviscup.org/daviscup.htm

Hewitt Cruises to Win in Straight Sets Over Younger Lapentti
Perth, Feb. 9 (NEC Davis Cup Site)

Lleyton Hewitt has played an awesome match to whittle down Giovanni Lapentti
and give Australia a 2-0 lead in the Davis Cup by NEC first round tie. The
Australian teenager never gave the Ecuadorian teenager, who is only just
coming out of the junior ranks, any opportunities, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in
one hour 36 minutes.

Earlier, Pat Rafter had provided the home side with the first point of the
tie when he brushed aside Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.

Hewitt has shown how well he can play on any surface because in the last
couple of months he has gone from playing indoors at the Tennis Masters Cup
in Lisbon, to clay in Barcelona at the Davis Cup final, then to Rebound Ace
for the Australian circuit, to grass this weekend for this Davis Cup first
round.

He believes winning the tournament at the Queen's Club last June, just before
Wimbledon, when he beat Pete Sampras in the final, has certainly given him
more confidence on grass.

"It's a lot easier for me than a lot of other players, to change surfaces,
because I can play a similar game on all surfaces," said Hewitt. "I only have
to make minor adjustments so it's a good situation for me. I come in off the
right balls. For some players it's hard to change surfaces but for me it's
not too bad."

Hewitt certainly showed that as he kept the pressure on the inexperienced
Ecuadorian who is not that much younger than Hewitt. The Australian did
however indicate that he had to call on some of his experience in Davis Cup
to counteract Lapentti who can make it quite tough in letting an opponent get
into a rhythm.

"He was smashing down a few first serves and then he would miss a few, then
he would be smacking forehands and backhand winners and then he was spraying
them," said Hewitt, "but I was very focused and got the job done. It was very
easy to get pumped up and to find a way to win."

The new Australian captain John Fitzgerald was naturally delighted to get a
good start and for his two players to win in straight sets. He did feel both
matches had tight moments but "both our players were in control".

"I am pretty relaxed, it's an amazing feeling going into a tie like this,
with players of this calibre - players like this don't come around too often
and they are all hitting the ball well," said Fitzgerald.

"You can't help feeling confident with players like this, but you can't be
overconfident. You still have to go to the table and apply yourself."

Australia is now in a very commanding position to take an unassailable 3-0
lead with the doubles rubber. Playing a Davis Cup match together for the
first time, Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge, runners-up at the tournament
in Adelaide in January, will face Nicolas and Giovanni Lapentti. The winner
of the tie will go into the quarterfinals to play either Morocco or Brazil in
April.

"I like the thought of us having two fresh players in the doubles, it is a
huge advantage at time," said Fitzgerald.

END--http://www.daviscup.org/daviscup.htm

Australia lead Ecuador 2-0 in Davis Cup

PERTH, Australia, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt
demolished the Lapentti brothers Nicolas and Giovanni on Friday to give
Australia a 2-0 lead over Ecuador after the opening singles matches of their
Davis Cup world group first round clash.

Showing no signs of the cramp that halted his Australian Open campaign,
Rafter mastered Nicolas 6-3 6-0 7-5 before Hewitt beat Giovanni 6-3 6-2 6-2.

Australia need to win just one of the remaining three matches over the
weekend to advance to a second round clash against either Brazil or Morocco.

"It's a relief to be 2-0 up, but to be honest I would have been disappointed
if we weren't," said Australia's new Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald.

Ecuador are appearing in the world group for the first time after beating
Britain 3-2 at Wimbledon a year ago and their captain Paul Viver said it was
a real lesson playing the Australians.

"I think we've got to be disappointed," he said.

"But we knew it was going to be tough. I think Australia on grass is the best
team in the world."

Despite playing in temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celcius at the Royal
Kings Park Tennis Club in Perth, Rafter had few problems overcoming Ecuador's
highest ranked player.

Lapentti, a former top 10 player, tried to upset Rafter's rhythm by playing
serve-and-volley but eventually reverted back to the baseline where he was
more comfortable.

Rafter raced through the opening two sets then broke Lapentti's serve at 5-5
in the third to seal victory in 105 minutes.

"When he started holding his serve regularly mid-way through the third set it
was starting to become a bit of a worry," said Rafter.

"He is someone who's a good competitor so I never wanted to let him back into
the match."

"He was a little bit confused the whole match.

"He was trying to serve-volley sometimes, others he wasn't and he continued
to do that all through the match," he added.

"I lost my service game and from that point on it was hard work. It took me
two sets to realise how to play," Nicolas said.

Hewitt was just as comfortable in brushing past Giovanni -- ranked 920 places
below the Adelaide teenager -- in 96 minutes.

Hewitt was happy to play from the back of the court once he had worked out
how to play Giovanni.

"He's a hard hitting guy and he doesn't give you any rhythm at all," Hewitt
said.

"You just had to focus and keep your head out there today."

The Lapentti brothers will team up on Saturday to face Todd Woodbridge and
Wayne Arthurs in the doubles, before taking on Rafter and Hewitt again in
Sunday's reverse singles.

Despite his team's poor start, Viver refuses to concede defeat.

"There is still some chance but it is looking very difficult for us," he
said.

05:12 02-09-01

Rafter admits to grumpiness
By ANDREW HAMILTON, February 9
(SportsToday)

Pat Rafter a snappy grump? Never.

To the general public, Rafter is an angel whose movie star good looks are
only matched by his nice-guy personality.

And given his dedication to charity and gracious on-court behaviour, it is a
reputation he deserves.

But Australia's most successful player of the past decade admits he does not
always live up to his image as a laid back, knock about bloke - particularly
when he's playing Davis Cup.

Such is his love of representing his country, Rafter frequently suffers from
pre-bout jitters.

"I would like to be like that," he said.

"But everytime you walk on the court you feel the pressure and you feel the
nerves and I definitely feel them."

Rafter said he had suffered from nerves in the lead-up to today's first round
Davis Cup singles match, which he won comfortably over Ecuador's Nicolas
Lapentti 6-3 6-0 7-5.

"I get a little bit uptight and a little bit tense," he said.

"I think I felt that a little bit last night and this morning and I become
sort of focused and punchy.

"That's just what works for me, that's how I like to play I guess."

The dual US Open champion's girlfriend Lara Feltham and his brother Steve are
willing verbal punching bags.

"I get a little snappy," he said.

"I can sort of snap, my girlfriend and my brother sort of feel it a little
bit, but they understand, they realise what sort of pressure I'm under and
what I go through.

"But I wouldn't punch my brother, he'd flatten me.

"I'm not that dumb."

But there is a bonus, when he gets tense, it usually means he's switched on.

"It's how I get around grand slams as well, but when I'm like that I know
that I'm ready to play and I'm ready to perform.

"But I wish I was a little more relaxed."

Today Rafter wasn't the only one with butterflies in his stomach, but debut
coach Wally Masur said his nerves were soon settled by Rafter's dominant
display.

"Pat talked about nerves, John (team captain John Fitzgerald) and myself
started to feel a little bit tense last night and this morning," he said.

"As far as we are concerned he's the leader of this team and we were looking
for something really positive and he just went out and approached it
beautifully.

"From our point of view I think that really breaks the back of this tie, not
underestimating the Ecuadorians."

END - AAP

Pat Rafter gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the first round Davis Cup tie against Ecuador with a straight sets victory over Nicolas Lapentti.

Rafter, back in his spiritual home, playing Davis Cup for Australia on grass, had little trouble accounting for Ecuador's top player 6-3 6-0 7-5.

The only hiccup came in the final set when Lapentti showed signs of the form that carried him to a world No.6 ranking in 1999, to take five games off the local hero.

But, with scores level at 5-5, Rafter broke the 24-year-old's serve and then served the perfect game to seal the match.

As Rafter had predicted, the Ecuadorian clay court specialist adopted a more Australian style of tennis in the opening set and made several excursions to the net.

However, the dual US Open champion broke Lapentti's serve twice to go one up at 6-3 in 34 minutes.

Lapentti's decision to settle into his more comfortable baseline style in the second set backfired as the hard serving Australian dominated the second 6-0 in 24 minutes.

Rafter took every opportunity to replace his fluids, but looked completely comfortable in the 44-degree Perth heat and gave some hope that he has overcome the problems with cramp that saw him limp out of his Australian Open semi-final loss to Andre Agassi.

Australia's top ranked player Lleyton Hewitt will take on Giovanni Lapentti in the second singles rubber. - AAP

No Cup surprises
By PATRICK MILES
10feb01

IT was very hot, it was a best-of-five-set match and Pat Rafter was blazing. But there were no alarms - far from it.

His serves, his volleys and his groundstrokes were all aflame yesterday and there were no signs of the physical discomfort he suffered in similar circumstances recently.

Nicolas Lapentti is a world-class player - on every surface other than grass - but he was unable to make an impression on Rafter in the opening singles match of Australia's first-round tie against Ecuador in Perth yesterday.

In the genteel, rural surrounds of Royal King's Park - on grass before an adoring crowd - Rafter cruised through his first match since he lost in five sets to Andre Agassi at last month's Australian Open, when he suffered from tight muscles in the final two sets.

Despite losing his serve twice, Rafter was in control throughout, winning 6-3 6-0 7-5.

"It's always such a good feeling when you win for your country. It is very satisfying and I am very relieved."

Lapentti, Ecuador's leading player, was never able to overcome the loss of his first service game.

"It took me two sets to realise the way I had to play, which was to get faster to the net. It worked, but it was too late."

It was Rafter's 23rd Davis Cup singles match and his 15th victory, the last two arriving against Brazil in Brisbane during Australia's defence of the trophy in 2000.

Lapentti has been ranked as high as No.6 in the world but was totally outclassed as Rafter, 28, notched his third career victory over the challenger.

Twice Rafter let slip a service break but both times forged another to regain control.

Lapentti, 24, was unsure of his approach, sometimes taking the net but then retreating.

A successful forehand cross-court volley from Lapentti at 3-1 forced a break of serve but he let it go again in the following game.

Lapentti dropped his serve three times in the second set as Rafter's confidence soared.

From the end of the first set to the beginning of the third, the Queenslander took nine games in succession.

Lapentti, who lost his first service game in each set, fought back when Rafter served at 2-1 in the third.

At 5-5, Lapentti saved one break point when a backhand volley dropped on the baseline but on the second, he netted a backhand to give Rafter the chance to serve out the match.

"I guess I felt a little like it could get close and he couldget back into it in the third," Rafter said.

"When he started holding serve regularly midway through the third set, it was starting to become a bit of a worry because I'd been on top the whole time and the tide was changing that little bit to the point where I could get myself in trouble.

"But he played either a loose game or a tight game at 5-5 and it opened the door up for me again."

Rafter will be a spectator for today's doubles when Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs face Lapentti and his younger brother, Giovanni.

Tomorrow, Rafter will take on Giovanni in the reverse singles hoping Australia have an unbeatable 3-0 lead.

Rafter gives Aussies early lead

Friday, 9 February, 2001

by ROGER GATCHALIAN

PERTH, 9 February - The Optus Australian Davis Cup Team took a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup by NEC first round tie against Ecuador on Friday after Patrick Rafter's emphatic win over Nicolas Lapentti.

Rafter, who reached the Australian Open semifinals a fortnight ago, held off a rapidly improving Lapentti to win 63 60 75.

The 28-year-old Rafter, also a Wimbledon finalist last year, was clearly more comfortable on the grass at Royal Kings Park than Lapentti, a baseline specialist.

"I think he was confused the whole match," said Rafter. "He was serve and volleying then staying on the baseline."

After winning the opening two sets with ease, Rafter was pushed a little harder in the third, losing an early break and only winning 75.

"When someone is competing well you need to keep them down," Rafter added.

Lapentti conceded it was going to be a battle to beat Rafter on the surface the Aussie described as "my surface".

"Pat's a lot better player on grass than me," said Lapentti. "If I was to win this match I was going to have to play the match of my life."

Australia is looking to extend its lead in this opening round tie, with Lleyton Hewitt taking on Nicolas's younger brother, Giovanni, in the second match on Friday.