By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday March 19, 2021
Lorenzo Musetti battles past Grigor Dimitrov in straight-sets to reach his first ATP-500 semi-final on Thursday night in Acapulco.
Photo Source: Abierto Telcel
Seventh time was a charm on Thursday night in Acapulco for Lorenzo Musetti. The 19-year-old Italian, who needed six match points to topple World No.9 Diego Schwartzman in his first round match, followed a similar, frenetic path past Grigor Dimitrov in quarter-final action on Thurdsay at the Abierto Telcel.
The 19-year-old Italian needed seven match points in the second set to finally send Dimitrov packing, after the Bulgarian had saved four match points at 4-5, another one at 5-6 and a final one at 2-6 down in the second-set tiebreaker.
“It's incredible really. I didn't expect this,” Musetti said in his on-court interview. “Today I think I played the best match in my life. Grigor is an incredible opponent, a great fighter.”
It was a remarkable contest, and an even more impressive work of determination by Musetti, who could have easily hung his head after Dimitrov wiggled out of trouble to force the tiebreaker.
But the Italian held his nerve and never stopped delivering his unique brand of imaginative tennis. It was enough to keep Dimitrov at bay despite a furious attempt by the Bulgarian to stay alive.
The final point of the contest was a microcosm of the final few games, with Musetti luring Dimitrov into net with a perfectly placed dropper that the Bulgarian was quick enough to get to and launch a perfect lob off. But Musetti tracked down the lob and threw up a great defensive backhand, and when Dimitrov’s smash wasn’t up to snuff it was the teenager who took the initiative and ripped a forehand that a back-peddling Dimitrov re-directed wide of the line.
Musetti dropped to the court on his back to soak up the moment. In just his 11th ATP match he is already demonstrating an ability to own the big stage and make the most of his chances against the best players in the world.
Already in his young career Musetti has defeated Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka at Rome, reached his first semi-final as an 18-year-old in Sardinia, and logged his first Top 10 win in Acapulco, where he is through to his first ATP 500 semifinal.
Musetti will crack the Top 100 next week thanks to his effort, at a projected 95 in the ATP rankings, but he could go even higher if he is able to find a way past Stefanos Tsitsipas in Friday’s semifinals.
The Greek took care of Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday, for the third straight time, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Alexander Zverev and Dominik Koepfer will face off in an all-German affair in the lower-half semifinal on Friday.
Tsitsipas is also making his Acapulco debut, and he played the big moments better to hand the Canadian a tough loss and improve his head-to-head against Auger-Aliassime to 3-2.
Musetti nearly had to go to three sets again on Thursday, after he defeated American Frances Tiafoe in two hours and 44 minutes on Wednesday, but the Italian will be glad that he saved what little energy he has left in his tank after qualifying and three mammoth victories.
He’ll need everything he can get against Tsitsipas, who is playing some fierce tennis.
“[Tsitsipas] is one of the biggest guys on tour,” Musetti said. “It's really an honour to play with him… I think this week every day it's something more special so let's see tomorrow what happens.”