Musetti rides hot form into Umag final vs. Cerundolo
Lorenzo Musetti has successfully adapted his all-court game from the grass of Wimbledon to the clay of Umag, charging into the final of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag with a dominant win over Czech teen Jakub Mensik Friday night.
In his first appearance since reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this month, the 22-year-old Italian led from start to finish against the #NextGenATP star, converting all five break point chances that came his way, according to Infosys Stats.
[ATP APP]In Saturday’s final the World No. 16 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings will face Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who upset top seed Andrey Rublev 7-6(6), 6-4.
“Jakub is a really great player, I saw a lot of myself when I was in his position, making the first results in the ATP Tour,” said Musetti, who has won 15 of his past 18 matches. “He was playing really great tennis but I think tonight I played at my best level and it was a convincing game from my side.
“Of course it is a positive period for me, but I try not to forget what there is behind it. There have been so many up and downs in my career; in the last three years a lot of things changed in my life. Whenever you don’t expect something, it happens, so you have to be ready to take the chances and I think I’m taking all the chances that life and tennis is giving me.”
Musetti has dropped just three matches dating back to the start of the grass season. He is chasing his third title and first since defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the Hamburg final in 2022.
Cerundolo saved five of six break points faced against Rublev to advance to his fifth tour-level final. He seeks his first title since winning Eastbourne more than a year ago. He improved to 9-11 against Top 10 players.
“I’m super happy of course, Andrey’s an incredible player, Top 10,” Cerundolo said.
“I’ve been loving this country so far, I’ve played nine matches [including matches on the Challenger Tour] and won them all, so hopefully I can end my week tomorrow with another win and another title in Croatia – a second of two [Challenger Tour title in Split, 2020], so hopefully I can get it.”
Doubles Final
Fourth seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Miguel Reyes-Varela from Mexico claimed their first team title when they defeated Frenchmen Manuel Guinard and Gregoire Jacq 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag Friday night.
Appearing in their first tour-level final as a team, Andreozzi and Reyes-Varela topped their previous best result of a semi-final showing in Marrakech earlier this year.
Winner of ATP Challenger Tour titles in Naples and Perugia this season, the duo last week fell in the first round of Bastad to Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud.
Andreozzi, 32, was playing in his first ATP Tour final, after saving two match points to defeat Eysseric/Luz in the quarter-finals. He owns 36 Challenger doubles titles, including three this season.
Reyes-Varela, 37, improved to 2-3 in ATP Tour doubles finals, capturing his first title at 2018 Los Cabos (w/Arevalo) and reaching finals of 2018-19 Newport (w/Arevalo) and 2022 Seoul (w/Barrientos).
[NEWSLETTER FORM]