Lorenzo Musetti came back from one set down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 21 minutes in the quarter final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Musetti has reached the first Masters 1000 semifinal of his career.
Musetti set up a semifinal against Alex De Minaur, who cruised past Grigor Dimitrov 6-0 6-0.
Tsitsipas served at only 49% and made seven double faults. Musetti converted three of his six break points and hit 23 winners to 32 unforced errors. The Italian player saved 14 of the 17 break points he faced. Tsitsipas produced 24 winners to 45 unforced errors.
Tsitsipas earned his first break in the second game as Musetti netted a backhand slice. The Italian player fended off four break points in the fourth game to reduce the gap to 1-3. Tsitsipas converted his third break point with a lucky net cord return winner in the sixth game to race out to a 5-1 lead earning the chance to serve for the first set, Tsitsipas saved a break point with a forehand drive volley winner and closed out the first set 6-1 with a service winner after 41 minutes.
Both players missed missed break points in the second and third games of the second set. Musetti broke serve to open up a 3-1 lead as Tsitsipas made a volley error. Tsitsipas broke straight back in the fifth game with a forehand winner. Musetti broke serve in the sixth game with a backhand winner to take a 4-2 lead.
Musetti held two service games and closed out the second set 6-3 with a service winner after 1 hour and 28 minutes forcing the match to the decider.
Musetti faced four break points at 1-2 in the third set. He saved the first three chances with winners. Tsitsipas missed his fourth opportunity with an error. Musetti earned a break point in the seventh game with a deep return.
Musetti broke serve in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead, as Tsitsipas made a double fault. The Olympic bronze medallist consolidated the break by holding serve with a service winner and earned his chance to serve for the match a 5-4. He held serve at 15 to wrap up the third set after Tsitsipas made a forehand error.
Musetti beat Tsitsipas for the first time in his six head-to-head matches against his Greek opponent. Tsitsipas had won four of his previous five matches against Musetti on clay. The Greek player won three titles in Monte-Carlo in 2021, 2022 and 2024 and has scored a record of 20 wins to 2 defeats since 2021 at this tournament.
Musetti is now 13th in the ATP Live Ranking and could reach the top 10 if he should win the Monte-Carlo title.
Lorenzo Musetti: “Today was a really tough match. I knew that before today I never beat him and we played five times. Especially on clay, I knew against a three-time champion, definitely not an easy job today,” said the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, who captured his ninth Top-10 win. “I found a way and I was increasing during the whole match. Really, really happy and proud of this win.”
