Lorenzo Musetti takes big risk with Stan Wawrinka, but ATP Finals dream remains alive

Lorenzo Musetti qualified for the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament in Athens, but he struggled not a little to get the better of one of the circuit veterans, 40-year-old Swiss Stan Wawrinka. In fact, against the current number 159 in the world rankings, Musetti had to work hard for almost two and a half hours and managed to win 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Against the experienced Helvetic tennis player, who was especially good at hammering with his serve (22 aces in total), Musetti suffered especially in the first hour and a half of play, with the first set slipping away mainly due to the break suffered in the seventh game and the second fraction, very balanced, brought home after a tight tie-break, unblocked in favor of the Carrara player only from 4-5 to the next three points.

In the third set, the difference at the physical level made the difference: Musetti was good at immediately snatching the game on opponent’s serve, and then preserving until the end the margin of advantage, thus giving himself a success that allows him to continue dreaming of qualification to the ATP Finals, which would still come only by winning the tournament.

Lorenzo Musetti’s next opponent will be 28-year-old Frenchman Alexandre Muller, number 43 in the ATP rankings. The transalpine athlete, in turn, struggled mightily in his round of 16 match, overcoming Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 7-6(3) at the end of a match that lasted three hours and seven minutes in total.