Lorenzo Musetti returns to SF in Chengdu | ATP Tour

Chengdu

Musetti returns to SF in Chengdu

Both Martinez and Jarry lost in the quarterfinals

September 22, 2024

Two appearances, two semi-final appearances. That is Lorenzo Musetti’s record at the Chengdu Open, a tournament in which he hopes to surpass the ceiling he set last year.

The Italian, who starts as the top seed, came through a tough quarterfinal against No. 5 seed Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in two hours and 16 minutes.

Musetti was aggressive on return, creating up to 12 break opportunities, of which he was able to convert a total of 4. In addition, he hit a total of 23 winners, eight of them in the form of aces.

“I think today was a great game for both of them, he [Mannarino] “He raised his level in the second set and started serving better and giving me fewer break opportunities,” Musetti said in the on-court interview. “So I had to be very focused on every point to make it happen and at 2-2 [del último set] When I broke, it was the key that probably changed the match.”

The No. 19 in the PIF ATP Rankings has finished in the top four at seven of his last nine tournaments: Stuttgart, Queen’s, Wimbledon, Umag, Paris Olympics and Chengdu.

In this edition he will try to improve the result he achieved last year, where he lost in the semi-finals against Roman Safiullin. To achieve this he will have to overcome Alibek Kachmazov, who is the great sensation on the Chinese hard court.

The world No. 252, who advanced through qualifying to reach the main draw in Chengdu, defeated No. 3 seed Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

“I’m playing very well, very solid this week,” Kachmazov said. “Today it was a little bit better, a little bit easier to play long points and it was a perfect day.”

Kachmazov, who won his first – and so far only – ATP Tour match last year in Astana, will be playing his first semi-final at this level, which will also be the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Musetti.

“It’s been an incredible week for me already but I hope not to stop and I’m not thinking too much, just keep playing,” he added about the best tournament of his career to date.

In the lower half of the draw, Hanfmann advanced to his eighth semifinal, defeating No. 4 seed Pedro Martinez 7-6(1), 6-2 in one hour and 52 minutes.

The German now awaits #NextGenATP Chinese Juncheng Shang, who dispatched No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik 6-4, 7-6(8) in one hour and 51 minutes.