Lorenzo Musetti has hit out at Dan Evans after beating him to reach the last eight in Cagliari.
The Italian rising star defeated Evans in a tight contest 6-1 1-6 7-6(8) to reach the quarter-finals in Cagliari.
Musetti saved four match points having been 4-0 and 6-3 down in the final set tiebreak before rallying back to claim victory.
However after the match there was an unusual celebration from the 19 year-old, who threw his racket into the ground.
Clearly frustrated, the Italian made it known after the match that he didn’t appreciate Evans’ attitude, “There are respectful experienced players on the pitch. Others like Evans, they try to use my youth to shoot (win) matches,” Musetti was quoted as saying by TennisHead in his post-match press conference.
“But it’s all experience for me. Evans disrespected me. I don’t want to be treated like a young man. It was really tough. I was 3-6 down in the tiebreak and he was playing good, always going to the net and always aggressive.
“I tried to stay calm and tried to play each point. That is what I did and it worked, so I am really happy and really proud of myself with this win.”
During the match, Evans implemented some unusual return positioning in the second set which is what may have upset the Italian.
However the main thing is Musetti is now into the quarter-finals in Cagliari as he continues his rise among tennis’ elite.
The Italian has already beaten the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Diego Schwartzman and Grigor Dimitrov as he has already broken into the top 100.
Musetti will play Laslo Djere of Serbian in the last eight on Friday.
