Lorenzo Musetti, no match for Jiri Lehecka in Madrid

Nothing to be done for Lorenzo Musetti, defeated in the round of 16 of the Madrid Masters 1000 by Czech Jiri Lehecka (No. 14 in the rankings), who imposed himself with a double 6-3 in an hour and fifteen minutes of play.

On the Arantxa Sánchez court, the Azzurro struggled to withstand the impact of the greater power of his opponent, who is particularly effective on the fast clay of the Spanish capital, a surface that enhances his aggressive tennis. It’s no coincidence that Lehecka, already a semifinalist in Madrid two years ago (stopped then by a back problem against Felix Auger-Aliassime), is having a high-level season, culminating also with the final at the Miami Masters 1000, lost to Jannik Sinner.

The match opens immediately uphill for Musetti: his serve does not help him and Lehecka takes control of the exchanges, forcing the Italian to move constantly on defense. The break in the third game steers the first set. In the final game, the Italian also has three consecutive balls for the counter-break in the eighth game, but fails to exploit them. The missed break immediately weighs heavily: in the next game he loses serve again and the set closes 6-3 for the Czech.

In the second partial, Musetti tries to react by increasing his aggressiveness and builds a break point in the fifth game, but without materializing it. Once again it is the serve that makes the difference: solid that of Lehecka, too fragile that of the Tuscan. The Azzurro yields again in the final, in the eighth game, and the Czech closes without difficulty with the same score as in the first set.