Lorenzo Musetti struck 16 winners to power his way into the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell second round on Tuesday afternoon. The #NextGenATP Italian broke Feliciano Lopez’s serve three times and won the final 12 points of the match in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over 69 minutes.
"Me and my coach are really proud of what I did, translating practice to the tournament. That's what we are working for and I am really enjoying it and I'm really happy with this win," Musetti said. "Looking forward to playing Felix."
[WATCH LIVE 1]
Musetti, who recorded his first Top 10 win over Diego Schwartzman en route to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals (l. to Tsitsipas), sets up a second-round clash against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is working with Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal.
"I was pretty curious about this match [against Lopez] before playing it, and with him you don't have to rush. You have to stay patient and play every point, especially when he's serving, because he can [hit] a lot of aces, a lot of first serves pretty good and he comes to the net," Musetti said. "You have to be really calm and not lose focus. That's what I did. Especially in the second set, the last three games I was playing really good."
Later in the afternoon, Frances Tiafoe overcame 17-year-old Spanish wild card Carlos Alcaraz, recovering from a 1-4 deficit in the second set en route to a 6-4, 7-6(2) over one hour and 43 minutes.
“He is a good kid, smart player and well coached by ‘Mosquito’ [Juan Carlos Ferrero], so it got a little complicated at the end of the second set and then it was a war form there,” said Tiafoe, who will next face fourth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the second round. “I like clay. I am an athlete and can move. I had a little scare today. It’s physical, it’s fun. I like Diego and we’ve come close to playing before. We’re good friends.”
Alcaraz, who reached the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open semi-finals in Marbella (l. to Munar), is the youngest player in the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings.
Elsewhere, Australia’s Jordan Thompson saved two match points at 4-5 in the deciding set of a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3) victory over former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet of France in three hours and 17 minutes. Thompson now plays sixth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
"Me and my coach are really proud of what I did, translating practice to the tournament. That's what we are working for and I am really enjoying it and I'm really happy with this win," Musetti said. "Looking forward to playing Felix."
[WATCH LIVE 1]
Musetti, who recorded his first Top 10 win over Diego Schwartzman en route to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC semi-finals (l. to Tsitsipas), sets up a second-round clash against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is working with Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal.
"I was pretty curious about this match [against Lopez] before playing it, and with him you don't have to rush. You have to stay patient and play every point, especially when he's serving, because he can [hit] a lot of aces, a lot of first serves pretty good and he comes to the net," Musetti said. "You have to be really calm and not lose focus. That's what I did. Especially in the second set, the last three games I was playing really good."
Later in the afternoon, Frances Tiafoe overcame 17-year-old Spanish wild card Carlos Alcaraz, recovering from a 1-4 deficit in the second set en route to a 6-4, 7-6(2) over one hour and 43 minutes.
“He is a good kid, smart player and well coached by ‘Mosquito’ [Juan Carlos Ferrero], so it got a little complicated at the end of the second set and then it was a war form there,” said Tiafoe, who will next face fourth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the second round. “I like clay. I am an athlete and can move. I had a little scare today. It’s physical, it’s fun. I like Diego and we’ve come close to playing before. We’re good friends.”
Alcaraz, who reached the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open semi-finals in Marbella (l. to Munar), is the youngest player in the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings.
Elsewhere, Australia’s Jordan Thompson saved two match points at 4-5 in the deciding set of a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3) victory over former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet of France in three hours and 17 minutes. Thompson now plays sixth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.