Lorenzo Musetti beat Gael Monfils 6-1 6-4 in the first round of the Olympic Games tennis tournament on the clay court of Roland Garros.
Musetti will take on a second round match against Mariano Navone.
Musetti lost to Francisco Cerundolo in three sets 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-4) on Saturday night at the ATP 250 in Umago. Musetti did not get to bed until past midnight and was on his way to the Pula airport at to arrive in Paris in time for his first-round match against Gael Monfils in late afternoon.
Musetti leads 3-1 in his head-to-head match against Monfils. The Italian player beat Monfils 7-5 6-1 6-4 in the Round of 64 at Roland Garros this year.
Musetti converted four break points. Monfils made 38 unforced errors.
Musetti earned his first break at deuce in the second game after three deuces and held at 15 to open up a 3-0 lead. Monfils saved six break points to hold serve after seven deuces in the fourth game. Musetti broke for the second time at love in the sixth game and served out the first set at 30. Monfils won just 3 of the final 15 points of the first set.
Musetti faced two break points in the fourth game of the second set. The Italian player broke in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, but Monfils broke straight back in the sixth game to 3-3 with two backhand passing shots down the line. Monfils saved the first break point in the seventh game with a forehand passing shot. Musetti converted his third break point to take a 4-3 lead and served out the win on his first match point.
“This morning, we flew early from Pula at 8 am, and we woke up around 6 am. When I arrived at the hotel, I had lunch with the Italian women’s volleyball team and then I managed to get a 30-minute nap. When I got here, Jessica Pegula was already about to win her match, so I practiced about 15 minutes and got on court for the match. Last night, the match finished around 10.30 pm, so by the time I did press, shower and cool down, it was not until 1.30 that I got to bed. I am lucky that my partner is a saint and she had packed already”, said Musetti.
