Munar Upsets Musetti In Santiago

Jaume Munar caused an upset Wednesday at the Movistar Chile Open, where he ousted top seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard had won both his previous meetings with Musetti, but both had come on the ATP Challenger Tour. A change in level did not change the result, as World No. 66 Munar advanced after one hour and 30 minutes.

“It was difficult for me to play today. [The court is] so much faster than on Monday night, and I tried to be focussed very much on my serve, tried to have variety in my game,” Munar said. “I knew that Lorenzo, he’s a great player. Of course he didn’t play his best today, but I tried to use my skills to move the opponent [out of] the comfort zone and I think I did it great today.”

Munar, who won 87 per cent of his first-serve points against the Italian, is pursuing his first ATP Tour title this week. The 25-year-old is not getting ahead of himself, though.

“I’m here to try my best,” Munar said. “I wasn’t feeling ready before the swing here because I wasn’t playing my best. I was not on top of my fitness and I think I’ve been managing day by day by working hard. I think my team is doing also an extremely good job. And I think right now in quarters after these two matches, competing the way I’m competing, let’s hope for the best.”

Musetti struggled to find his best game during the “Golden Swing” in South America, tallying a 1-3 record in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago. The World No. 18, who won four matches for Team Italy at the inaugural United Cup to start the year, will try to discover his top form at the BNP Paribas Open.

Earlier in the day, qualifier Yannick Hanfmann reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final of the season with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win against Roberto Carballes Baena.

The German has made all nine of his tour-level quarter-finals on clay. Like Munar, he is also trying to secure his maiden ATP Tour trophy in Santiago.