Lorenzo Musetti put in a solid all-round performance overcoming Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 and the home crowd to reach the third round where he next faces world number one Novak Djokovic.
The 22-year-old was dominant in baseline exchanges, particularly on the forehand side where he regularly spread Monfils all over the court, while the speed of the French veteran’s groundstrokes visibly fell away as the match progressed.
The pair had faced off just once before with Monfils winning in straight sets on the indoor hard courts in Vienna three years ago, and as in yesterday’s match-up between Richard Gasquet and Jannik Sinner, there was also a fifteen-year age gap between the two players.
The match was scheduled for the prime-time evening slot, and with just seven spaces between them in the rankings it was expected to be a fairly even contest. However, in truth, the match was decided after the very tight opening set.
The flashy Frenchman Monfils, who has an even 12-12 win-loss record so far in 2024, was quickest out of the blocks. He stepped into the court taking the ball early to dominate the early exchanges and broke serve to go 2-1 up. However, the home player found himself in trouble at 0-40 down when 4-3 ahead and when Musetti hit a forehand crosscourt winner the scores were level at 4-4.
Both players tested each other well in the next game but Musetti’s error at the net put him breakpoint down, and after an intense rally Monfils once again broke serve with his second passing shot to go 5-4 ahead. And again Monfils – who was once as high as six in the world – was unable to hold serve as he felt the pressure of the crowd and nerves crept in. He threw in two double faults along with two unforced errors and it was now five games all. Musetti, who won the 2019 junior Australian Open, won seven of the final eight points to win the set 7-5 in just under an hour with twelve winners overall.
Monfils, who looked physically drained at the end of the first set, was involved in many gruelling rallies at the start of the second and didn’t even chase some drop shots as he appeared to check out mentally. Musetti broke serve early to take a 3-0 lead, and again to go 5-1 up and took the set shortly afterwards in just 35 minutes.
A rejuvenated Monfils put in a far more determined effort in the third set and a couple of stunning winners woke the crowd up and they even took part in a Mexican wave at 2-1 up. But Musetti upped his game further constructing some beautiful points and holding serve easily. In fact, he only dropped one point on serve in the entire set and broke serve with the scores locked at 4-4. When Monfils hooked a forehand wide on the last point, the match was over in two hours and ten minutes.
Referring to the topsy-turvy game at 5-5 in the first set, Musetti said: “one point can make such a difference, especially in the best of five. I am really happy with my performance. It’s a tough challenge to play Gael, with the crowd on his side. I didn’t serve well in the first but in the second and third set I served really well and I’m really happy to be in the third round.”
The Italian, who played challenger events for extra match play before entering Roland Garros, holds a 1-4 head-to-head record against Djokovic including one match in the fourth round of the 2021 tournament where he was two sets to love up against the Serb before retiring at 4-0 down in the fifth.
