Lorenzo Musetti grappling with another disappointment: Top 10 and ATP Finals at risk
Also in Cincinnati, Lorenzo Musetti confirmed that he is living a moment that is anything but happy, sports-wise. In fact, the Carrara-based tennis player immediately said goodbye to the Cincinnati tournament, losing his second-round match (he had missed the first because he was seeded) to Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who was able to close 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) in a comeback.
Since retiring in the semifinals at Roland Garros, when a muscle injury prevented him from competing all the way against Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the final, Musetti has played five matches, losing four and winning just one, in the second round of the Toronto tournament against Australia’s James Duckworth. The third round reached in Ontario is his best result since July.
The defeats were also decidedly bitter because of the caliber of his opponents: Nikoloz Basilashvili, currently number 112 in the ATP rankings, defeated him at Wimbledon; Cameron Norrie, who occupies the number 39 position, beat him in Washington; and Alex Michelsen, who is in the number 33 position in the world guaduatoria, eliminated him in Toronto.
The challenge with No. 63 Bonzi in Cincinnati was on paper within Musetti’s reach, even though the Frenchman in the previous round had eliminated another level-headed Italian, Matteo Arnaldi. All three sets were hard-fought, but in the decisive moments of the second and third fraction, the Carrara native was unable to break the Frenchman, rather suffering his impact on the court.
At the fourth elimination in the first consecutive rounds, there is now to think about how to rise again: both the Top 10 position and the race to the ATP Finals are in jeopardy, in a season finale in which Musetti must necessarily change gear.
