Lorenzo Sonego has played – and danced – his way into the final of the Winston-Salem Open.
On Friday afternoon after beating David Goffin 6-3, 6-2, the 29-year-old Italian did his tradition short dance just after the final point. It’s something he has been doing thanks to his team, and he’s not going to stop dancing now.
“It’s a funny moment with my team,” said Sonego, who is the highest-seeded player in the tournament at No. 10 and is ranked 58th in the world. “My trainer started with this dance, and I’ve continued it.”
Sonego became the highest seeded player in the field two days ago when all the of seeds in front of him were eliminated rather quickly.
He has three titles in his career and in 2021 was ranked as high as No. 21.
“I played very aggressively on the second serve against Goffin,” Sonego said. “He’s one of the biggest players of all-time, and I served very well. I had nothing on my mind and just followed the flow. I played a perfect match today.”
He’ll likely have to play another perfect match on Saturday in the final, but said for now his goal is to get some rest and be ready.
“I take the confidence from my practice, and I work hard with my team each and every day,” he said. “I’ve started to play better, and I’m more aggressive than last year.”
He’s looking forward to chasing another title.
“I’m just enjoying this moment,” he said, “but I know I’ll have a tough match tomorrow.”
Even though their partnership is ending after the U.S. Open the doubles team of Julian Cash and Rob Galloway are playing well in yet another tournament.
The two defeated Jamie Murray and John Peers 5-7, 7-5, 10-8 getting the final two points to eke out the win in the semifinals on Friday afternoon.
Galloway, a 31-year-old Wofford graduate who is from Columbia, S.C. but lives in Greenville, S.C., said he and Cash are free-wheeling it knowing they both agreed to part ways later this summer.
“Doubles is so intense and so quick but if can kind of relax and let things happen as they come it’s better, and Julian and I have played a lot this year so that’s helped,” said Galloway, who graduated from Wofford in 2015 with an Economics degree.
After dropping the first set, Galloway and Peers, who is from Great Britain, rallied to win 7-5 which forced the 10-point super tiebreaker.
“We just kind of trusted what we do, and it worked out,” Galloway said.
The two have had a successful season with two ATP titles this season and reached another final. This will be their fourth final of the ATP Tour season.
“We also won a couple challenger events,” Galloway said.
Galloway said it’s about playing loose this tournament as they’ve won three matches, and they’ve done that so far in this tournament.
“We are having fun,” Galloway said.
As for playing in North Carolina, Galloway said he loves the vibe and not being that far from home.
“This means the world to me to play in the Carolinas,” Galloway said. “I’ve got so many college friends and high school friends who are here, so it’s been great.”
Galloway is aware of the heat and humidity that’s usually just part of the season in late August. But it didn’t arrive this week.
“This is great, so we got lucky not to get the full Carolinas' August humidity,” Galloway said.
