Dominic Stricker battled past Lorenzo Musetti 4-3 (7-5) 4-3 (7-6) 3-4 (7-9) 3-4 (6-8) 4-3 (7-3) in a late-night thrilling match becoming the first player to book his spot in the semifinals.
Stricker beat Jack Draper in his opening match and scored his second match against Musetti in a match where all five sets were decided by a tie-break. Stricker has now beaten the two highest ranked players in the group.
The first set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Stricker went up a mini-break twice to earn two set points at 6-4. Musetti saved a set point but Stricker earned his third mini-break to seal the tie-break 7-5. Musetti saved a set point in the sixth game before taking a 6-4 lead in the second-set tie-break.
Stricker, who won the Roland Garros boys’ title in 2020, saved two set points and won four consecutive points to win the tie-break 8-6.
Stricker earned an early break in the first game of the third set. Musetti broke straight back in the second game to draw level to 1-1. Musetti saved a match point to win the third-set tie-break 9-7. Musetti won the fourth-set tie-break 8-6 to level the match to 2-2.
Musetti saved another match point in the fifth-set tie-break but he hit a return wide on the next chance.
Musetti will face a decisive showdown match against Jack Draper, who beat Tseng Cun Hsin 1-4 4-2 4-3 (7-2) 4-2.
Francesco Passaro saved three match point to battle past his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi 4-3 (9-7) 3-4 (4-7) 4-3 (7-4) 4-3 (10-8) in one of the greatest matches in the Next Gen ATP Finals history.
“I am tired. It was a really long match and I think this format is tough and physical. For me it was physical today, with the tension as well. It was not easy”, said Passaro.
Brandon Nakashima beat Jiri Lehecka 4-1 4-3 (7-2) 4-2 moving to the top of the Green Group with two consecutive wins. Nakashima has not secured his spot in the semifinal yet. Lehecka broke serve to take a 2-1 lead, but Nakashima won three consecutive games to claim the third set.
“Going in I knew it was going to be another tough match. He plays a very flat, aggressive game. I wanted to be aggressive off the first ball”, said Nakashima.
