Musetti Races Through In Florence

Lorenzo Musetti put on a show for his home fans Thursday at the UniCredit Firenze Open, where the #NextGenATP Italian dispatched Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-0 with a scintillating opening display in Florence.

Musetti displayed confidence in all facets of his game in the second-round clash at the indoor ATP 250 event. The third seed delighted a vocal home crowd with an array of classy winners to close out victory against Zapata Miralles in just 69 minutes.

Musetti hit 21 winners to the Spaniard’s eight in the pair’s first tour-level meeting. With the win, the Italian is into his sixth tour-level quarter-final of the season and his third on indoor hard courts (after Rotterdam and Sofia). The 20-year-old, whose excellent season has also included his maiden ATP Tour title in Hamburg, has already qualified to compete at November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan for the second consecutive year.

Musetti will meet Mackenzie McDonald in the quarter-finals in Florence after the American downed another #NextGenATP Italian, Francesco Passaro, 6-4, 7-5. The No. 79-ranked McDonald broke Passaro’s serve twice in each set to clinch a 95-minute win and reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Brandon Nakashima joined his countrymen McDonald and J.J. Wolf in the last eight with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Altug Celikbilek. The San Diego champion Nakashima will take on top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Oscar Otte next as he looks to join Musetti in reaching the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. The 21-year-old is currently sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan.