By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday July 26, 2022

Lorenzo Musetti continued his hot streak on Tuesday at Croatia with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Aljaz Bedene at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open.



Fresh off his maiden title in Hamburg last week, where he topped Carlos Alcaraz in the final, the 20-year-old had to grind to get past 33-year-old Bedene after he dropped the second set.

“I knew it was not going to be an easy match,” said Musetti, “especially because I came yesterday (from Hamburg), so it was not easy to rest and to recover to 100 percent – I wasn’t sure about my physical condition but I’m very happy about the win.”

Musetti, who will face Marco Cecchinato in the second round, turned things around in the third set, breaking Bedene in all three return games as he won 12 of 17 return points.

“I think I learned a lot last week,” Musetti said. “I think I grew up even as a human being, as a professional player. There was a lot of difficult moments in this match, but I reacted in a positive way.

“Aljaz was playing really good, especially the second set and the beginning of the third, so it was not easy for me to find a way to break his game.”

Musetti improves to 19-16 on the season with the win, as he plays at a career-high ranking of 31 in Umag.

Alex Molcan (d. Ajdukovic), Bernabe Zapata Miralles (d. Prizmic), Facundo Bagnis (d. Martin Etcheverry), Norbert Gombos (d. Delbonis), Corentin Moutet (d. Altmaier) and Franco Agamenone (d. Djere) also moved through their first-round matches on Tuesday.