By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Saturday, June 15, 2024
Matteo Berrettini stormed through seven games sweeping Lorenzo Musetti to set up a Stuttgart final vs. new British No. 1 Jack Draper.
Photo credit: Boss Open Facebook
Rome is Matteo Berrettini's home.
Berrettini continues to treat Stuttgart as his stomping ground.
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In an all-Italian semifinal of shotmakers, Berrettini stormed through seven straight games blasting past Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-0 into his third Stuttgart final.
Playing his first tournament since Monte-Carlo last April, Berrettini banged six aces and saved all four break points he faced in a powerfully efficient 66-minute victory.
Berrettini avenged a 7-6(5), 6-2 loss to Musetti in the 2022 Naples final.
"When you win like this, it's better,” Berrettini said of his 66-minute victory. “You just burn less energy. I think I played enough during the week. So today, it was really good to play an hour and six minutes.”
The 2021 Wimbledon finalist improved to 13-1 on Stuttgart's grass as Berrettini, who is a Boss ambassador, plays for the hat trick of titles at the Boss Open.
Berrettini is bidding to join Rafael Nadal as the second man to win three Stuttgart titles, if he succeeds he will be the first to win three Boss Open championship on grass as Nadal won twice when the tournament was staged on red clay and once on grass.
World No. 95 Berrettini will face Briton Jack Draper in the final.
Earlier, Draper defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-3 in one hour, 12 minutes to reach his third ATP final and first on grass. Draper will become new British No. 1 when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
The left-handed Draper drilled 13 aces, won 31 of 33 first-serve points and did not face a break point joining former No. 1 Andy Murray (2022) as the only British finalists in tournament history.