One Win from Turin – Musetti Saves Match Point against Korda to Set Athens Final with Djokovic

They were taking pictures in Turin on Friday, the ATP’s elite gathered ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals. Lorenzo Musetti is hoping to crash that party, and he kept those hopes alive with a brilliant escape on Friday, defeating Sebastian Korda 6-0, 5-7, 7-5 to reach the final in Athens, where Novak Djokovic is waiting. 

A win in Saturday’s final and Musetti will leapfrog Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is currently holding down the eighth and final slot at the ATP’s season-ending championships. 

To get it done, the ninth-ranked Italian will have to take down an icon. 

Musetti will face Novak Djokovic for the tenth time, having previously lost eight of the pair’s nine matchups, and five in succession. Musetti has not won a title since 2022, and he has lost each of his last seven ATP finals, including two this year at Monte-Carlo and Chengdu. 

Djokovic took out Yannik Hanfmann earlier on Friday, reaching his 144th career ATP final with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

“I’m not really lucky with finals in these past years, but hopefully the story will change, hopefully starting from tomorrow,” Musetti said. “I will play for two goals.” 

Down match point at 4-5, ad-out in the final set, Musetti reared back and fired an ace past Korda’s outstretched racquet, down the T. He survived the five-deuce game and turned the tables on the American in the next game, breaking for 6-5. 

Korda had fought valiantly to bounce back from an opening-set bagel, but when a Musetti second-serve return was scorched down the line, all Korda could do was watch it glance off his racquet. 

Musetti saved a break point in the final game with a service winner out wide and locked down his victory two points later, in two hours and 20 minutes. 

“I think we both made a really fantastic match,” Musetti said. “The level was getting higher and the adrenaline was intense. I’m super happy about the attitude I showed on court and the fighting spirit that I try to put on court every day – it’s paying off.”