World number 129 Lorenzo Musetti bounced back from the the first-round defeat in the qualifying tournament for the Australian Open with a win over world number 145 Danilo Petrovic in the first round of the ATP Challenger tournament in Istanbul.
Musetti claimed the first set 6-4 with a break in the ninth game at deuce on his second chance with a down the line forehand passing shot. The Italian Next Gen player had to save two break-back points in the 10th game, but he held serve to win the first set 6-4.
Petrovic saved five brek points in the fourth game of the second set. The second set went on serve until Musetti went down 4-5 0-30 in the 10th game, as he was serving to stay in the set. Petrovic earned two set points at 5-6. Musetti saved the second set point with an underarm serve.
In the tie-break Petrovic went up a 4-1 lead with a mini-break. Musetti pulled back the mini-break and earned a match point at 6-5. Petrovic saved it, but he made another unforced error. Musetti hit his seventh ace to win the mini-break 8-6.
Musetti won 85 % of his first serve points. He will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who advanced to the second round after his opponent Blaz Rola withdrew from the match after 54 minutes.
Musetti won his first ATP Challenger title in Forlì last autumn after beating four top 100 players during the week.
Lorenzo Giustino beat Alessandro Giannessi 7-5 7-6 (7-5) to set up a second round match against Frenchman Antoine Hoang.
World number 449 Ergi Karkan upset Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi 6-4 6-2.
The Istanbul line-up features US Brandon Nakashima and Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild. Nakashima won his first Challenger title last year in Orlando. The US player will face Cem Ilkel from Turkey and could face Prainesh Gunneswaran in a potential final re-match of the Orlando final.
Daniel Elahi Galan from Colombia, who reached the third round at Roland Garros last October, will face a qualifier in the opening round. The line-up is completed by Swiss unseeded player Marc- Andrea Huesler who was the only player to win on different surfaces in 2020 clinching titles in Sibiu on city clay and in Ismaning on indoor carpet court and reached the semifinal at the ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbuhel after beating Fabio Fognini.
