Lorenzo Musetti triumphs in Rome: he eliminates Zverev and flies to the semifinals at the Foro Italico
Musetti defeated Zverev in an epic match, clinching the semi-final in Rome with a masterful game and surprising determination.
3' min read
3' min read
A great Lorenzo Musetti reached the semifinals in Rome, beating world number two (and defending champion) Sascha Zverev in a tense and exciting match that ended 7-6, 6-4 in over two hours. The Italian, who has just entered the top ten, after the final reached in Monte Carlo and the semi-final in Madrid, confirms his magical moment at the Foro italico where he will face Carlos Alcaraz (who had eliminated Jack Draper in the afternoon).
Musetti began the first set in a contracted manner, going down 3-1 and 4-2, but he gradually loosened up, gained confidence, and worked the German on his flanks, wearing him down with short balls and disorienting him with continuous variations of his game, now powerful and under pressure, now plush with soft backs. The turning point, as he himself said at the end of the match, came at 6-5 for Zverev, who had his serve on his side and failed to exploit four set points. With the match tied at 6-6, and with the cheering in the centre even more intense if possible, Musetti grinded out one point after another, capitalising on his opponent's errors, who collapsed to give up 7-1. All this while from the Olimpico (where Jannik Sinner was also in the stands) came the chants of the fans of Bologna, victorious in the Coppa Italia final against AC Milan, in an almost surreal atmosphere.
In the second set, the two went hand in hand, the German regaining his tennis made up of winners, heavy first balls, and deep strokes, but he gathered little at the net thanks to Musetti's defence, which led him with several passes, one more spectacular than the other, and harnessed him in long exchanges from the back. On the 4th break, Lorenzo took a quantum leap: he hit two long backhands (one in the back, on the run, the other flat, a shot) and attacked against the backhand, totally bewildering Zverev: breack, 5-4 and service at his disposal to close out the match, as he did, 6-4 on the second match point with a slap volley. "You made the difference," said the 23-year-old from Carrara in the on-court interview with Diego Nargiso, addressing the irrepressible crowd, commenting on a "difficult, tight match, a first set in which perhaps he would have deserved more, but I played all the points, then I grew up and gained a lot of confidence".
He then dwelt on the use of the short ball, 'a weapon that works with players like him who hit hard but from a backward position'. Now it's the Spaniard on Friday: "With Alcaraz it will be an open match, in Monte Carlo I would have liked to play it to the end (suffering from muscular problems, he had succumbed 6-0 in the third ndr). Tomorrow will be another test but I feel motivated each time and the cheering helps me a lot," he reiterated.
At the press conference, he added that this maturation, this mental toughness that he had lacked until a while ago, was not due to any mental coach, 'it's my own doing, my daily work... I had been feeling better for a long time, tidier, I had always lost to important players, not to people far behind in the rankings, so I felt closer to my ranking'. There is plenty of room for improvement on the serve (today 50% first balls). Certainly on Friday Musetti will give everything 'to the end', as he wrote on camera after a victory he will remember.
