Positive debut for Lorenzo Musetti in the “Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell”, ATP 500 endowed with a prize pool of 2,681,825 euros that is disputed sulla terra rossa of the Royal Tennis Club Barcelona-1899, the oldest club in the capital of Catalonia, tournament which SuperTennis broadcasts live.
In the match that opened the day program on the pitch named after Rafa Nadal the 20 year old from Carrara, climbed to n.68 in the world ranking after the round of 16 in Monte-Carlo, he settled with a double 75, in an hour and 50 minutes of play, the Argentine Sebastian Baez, n.60 ATP.
In the second direct confrontation between the two – the South American had won the one at the last Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan – the blue Next Gen started by giving up the bar in the opening game, thus finding himself chasing his rival (0-2). In the fourth game, a double fault and a couple of errors by Baez gave Musetti three chances of a counter-break, ready to convert the first with a backhand winning 2-2, followed by overtaking (also propitiated by a streak of 11 points in a row).
Lorenzo broke the Argentine’s serve a second time (4-2), but did not confirm the break, sinning a little lightly and returning it with a smash sunk into the net after being 30-0. The 21-year-old from Buenos Aires hooked up the Carrarino at 4-4, who had to face a break point before climbing 5-4. And on 6-5 in his favor, with a right crossed by applause on the line, the player coached by Simone Tartarini obtained two set-points: on the first the tape pardoned Baez who had missed the smash, but on the second the right of the South American is out of proportion.
In the third game of the second fraction Musetti, with his forehand jammed, saved two break points, but the third was fatal (1-2) due to an acceleration of the Argentine’s forehand. Lorenzo’s reaction was immediate, with a counter-break and then a counter-overtake (3-2). In the seventh game the blue with an ace in the middle of the second – the first of his match – canceled a break point, and then went up 4-3. At 5-4 the Tuscan missed three consecutive match-points without being able to place the knockout blow, allowing himself to be recovered (5-5). But the situation repeated itself in the 12th game and this time Lorenzo closed the conversation.
The next opponent will be the British Daniel Evans, 36 in the ranking and 12th seeded: the blue Next Gen won the only precedent with the 31-year-old from Birmingham, played last year in the round of 16 in Cagliari.
–
