by Kingsley Elliot Kaye
The match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Musetti could be defined as an ultimate challenge between the two players who succeeded in posing the greatest threats to Djokovic in Roland Garros 2021, when they both stunned him by taking a two-set lead before eventually surrendering.
Also a match between two of the finest one-handed backhands on the tour. With Federer still recovering, Wawrinka and Thiem moving their first steps, Tsitsipas and Musetti created the expectations for a stylish performance to purists’ delight.
With such premises it would come to no surprise if the match should go a fifth set decider. And so it was, with Tsitsipas initially trailing and eventually prevailing 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2.
“Just like having a walk at the beach. Really fresh,” he joked. “Things weren’t easy for me in the first two sets. Lorenzo was playing well, he wasn’t giving me rhythm. I’m happy I stayed positive. I changed attitude in the third set. My fighting instinct came out. Once I really found my momentum on the serve, my routines and everything, I knew that it could be a different match.”
After a tight start, the match took a first twist in the 4th game, when Musetti lost his serve after being 40-0 up. Tsitsipas seemed in command, but Musetti broke back in the seventh game, saved three break points in the following and equalized at 4-4. The next games followed serve until Musetti earned a break point in the eleventh game with a stunning forehand down the line and then converted it. Serving for the set he did not falter, dazzled his opponent with dropshots and closed the set 7-5.
In the second set the Italian dashed off to a 4-0 lead. Tsitsipas seemed completely at loss, till he saved a break point in the fifth game and plucked up some pressure play once more. He recovered one of the breaks, but it wasn’t enough. Thanks to an improved first serve percentage Musetti held on and won the set 6-4.
From the very start of the third set, Tsitsipas shots found depth and penetration. A poor service game by Musetti gifted an early break. It was decisive. Tsitsipas was adamant on serve, conceding only one point, and broke a second time, for an emphatic 6-2 as a comeback omen.
In the fourth set Tsitsipas started scoring points off his backhand and strode off to 3-0, saving two break points on his way. Yet he dropped his following serve after he missed a flying forehand volley and Musetti placed a millimetric forehand on the baseline.
Tsitsipas was not discouraged by such setback and snatched the break back immediately. Musetti’s energy appeared waning whereas the Greek was overpowering. He failed to convert two set points on the Italian’s serve in the eighth game, when Musetti found some erratic magic, but held his following serve to love, sealing the fourth set 6-3 with his tenth ace.
With tennis being such a physical sport, few would have bet on a seemingly drained Musetti winning the decider. Tsitsipas was more and more consistent, running round every shot with metronomic footwork whereas Musetti was hitting through blindly, seeking and only occasionally finding instant winners, his unforced errors mounting up. The match seemed to have taken a one direction.
In the fifth set Tsitsipas broke immediately in the first game, then again in the fifth. He struck an impressive 89% of first services, hardly stained by a double fault in the sixth game. He often chose to place serve rather than hammer, taking advantage of Musetti moving slower. He hit winners off both sides, retrieved any ball at reach. Musetti staved off two match points on his service in the seventh game, the second one with an ace on second serve, still flashing his genius to hold on. But Tsitsipas was not to be stopped and served it out to love.
Just like last year Musetti was unable to go the full distance. The talent is there, the mettle is there, he knows where work is to be done.