LONDON -- Delightful it was to be at Wimbledon on a dry(ish) day in July. But to be a fan of Italian tennis was purest heaven. Hours before World No. 1 Jannik Sinner took on Matteo Berrettini on Centre Court, the infernal Fabio Fognini, infamous for his cock-of-the-walk strut and Mephistophelian beard, was pitted against Casper Ruud, No. 8 on the ATP computer. Although he had never beaten the Norwegian – never even won a set from him – Fognini, now late in his career, has the capacity to trouble any opponent with his insidious angles and his deceptive change of pace and spin.

 Ruud was, in a word, rudely shocked to find himself trailing by two sets to none. Then in the third set Fognini bolted ahead and served for the match only to have the Norwegian dig in his heels, or maybe he used a snowplough manoeuvre, and won the third set. Fognini seemed to have run out of gas. He had surely run out of breath and a slight roll of soft flesh at his waist appeared to be slowing him down. But he bounced back in the fourth set, swooping to the net for several crucial volleys that caught the Scandinavian off balance. After he hung on to win, Fognini stripped off his sweat-soaked tee shirt, revealing an elaborate tarot card tattooed to his back. The on-court interviewer didn’t notice this talisman. She suggested that Fognini’s freshly bleached blond hair had brought him good luck. He hoped that luck would last. He had made it to the third round of Wimbledon before but had never gone farther. Perhaps the tattoo and the neon bright hairdo would carry him into the second week of play.

 By the time Sinner and Berrettini came out for their highly anticipated match, the sun, which had finally emerged, started to sink and the Centre Court roof was closed like a clam shell. Essentially, they played an indoor match in humid conditions that should have slowed down their shots. Not that anyone within earshot would notice. The soundtrack resembled an exchange of artillery, not mere groundstrokes. In the first set there wasn’t the slightest hint of a break of serve until the tiebreak when each man forged a temporary advantage only to have the other break back. After 51 minutes Sinner cracked a backhand passing shot to win the set.

 In the second set both men raised their games and took more risks. As it was all day, Berrettini’s serve was a lethal weapon and a consistent one. He banged down 28 aces against only 3 double faults. A picture of sheer power, he belted 65 outright winners, more than twice Sinner’s 32 winners. When he broke for a 4-2 lead, it looked like Berrettini would even the match at a set apiece. But Sinner promptly broke back, and the second set was also decided in a tie break, with Sinner winning at 7-4.

 Berrettini had to have been sorely disappointed. He had played bravely and beautifully and had nothing to show for it. But rather than throw in the towel, he blasted away in the third set and soon led 5-1. Sinner seemed to lose focus, especially on his serve whose percentage dropped below 50%. I had the advantage of watching the match’s final stages with Ivan Ljubičić, a former Croatian player ranked No. 3 in singles and later the coach of Roger Federer. Ljubičić had predicted Sinner would win in 4 sets, but Berrettini’s third set gave him pause. He pointed out that although injuries had reduced Berrettini to No. 59, he along with Sinner was still among the best grass court players in the world. He had been unlucky to lose the second set tie break, Ljubičić said. Still, he had put himself in a position to even the match at 2 sets apiece. At that point it would be nearly 11 o’clock when Wimbledon’s rules stipulated that play must stop for the night. The following day, it would be a winner-take-all fifth set and anything could happen, Ljubičić said.

 What happened, however, was that Sinner won the vital fourth set and the match in yet another tie break. The difference was Sinner’s poise on the big points and a few lunging returns of Berrettini’s monster 130 mph serves. So, while Berrettini licks his wounds and tries to look for positives in his performance, Jannik Sinner advances toward what figures to be a showdown semi-final against the defending Wimbledon champion, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.