Lorenzo Musetti made his fourth appearance at the Australian Open, reaching the last eight of the season’s opening major for the first time in his career and personally completing a full run of quarter-finals at all four Grand Slams.
I’ve definitely improved my serve a lot and especially tried to be more aggressive with the forehand and try to use my variation to direct the game. Lorenzo Musetti
He defeated Taylor Fritz 6-2 7-5 6-4 to earn a quarter-final with 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, who was replaced by Jakub Mensik when the Czech withdrew yesterday with an abdominal muscle injury.
Musetti showed no signs of fatigue after eventually clearing more than five sets, Tomas Machac played more than two hours and 27 minutes in the previous round.
Fritz was unable to counter the Italian’s consistent and accurate basic play and found Musetti’s top-spinning forehand a problem that gave the fifth seed control of the match in which he hit 33 winners.
The American tried to serve his way out of trouble but struggled to land his usually reliable weapon and although things improved throughout the match, it was Musetti’s serve that proved most effective as he saved both break points he faced.
Fritz called the physio at 3-2 in the second set and later admitted that tendonitis in his left knee and other areas had contributed to his demise in Melbourne.
Musetti broke Fritz to love 5-5 in the second set and then in the opening game of the third on his way to a two-hour, three-minute victory, which he finished with love with three beautifully executed drop shots.
“I think today [my serve] worked really well,” said Musetti. “I think I had one of my best performances in aces (13) in my career so far, so I’m really happy.
“When I finished last season quite late, the intention was to start this year well, because I had never surpassed the first week here. Reaching the final in Hong Kong, winning doubles in Hong Kong [with Lorenzo Sonego] And now that I am in the quarter-finals, it is really a dream for me.
“I definitely improved my serve a lot and especially tried to be more aggressive with the forehand and use my variation to control the game,” Musetti added in explanation of his improved performance. “Like today, where I tried to open the court with the forehand and get the opponent moving. I think before I started playing too far and I was a bit too passive during the rally.”
“My coach keeps telling me to be a little more aggressive and go for it, take the lead in the rally. That’s what I did today.”
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Fritz talked about his physical problems.
“I’ve been pretty transparent about the knee thing all week,” Fritz said. “I was so happy with how I felt during the first two rounds, and then I came in after the match with Stan [Wawrinka] and it didn’t feel great, especially towards the end of the match.
“Today I felt it from the start. I felt good this morning during my warm-up. When I went to do my pre-match stuff, like walking around and stuff before the match, I just told my physio. I thought, ‘My knee just doesn’t feel great’. I was hoping it would loosen up. I don’t really think it got worse, but it just stayed the same the whole match. It was just pretty much everything that was bothering him.”
Playing with tape on both his right and left obliques, he added, “I just felt like I was hitting the ball well. I think a lot of my mistakes came from me pulling up and not feeling like I was loading my knee hard enough. I really don’t want to take any credit away either. He played really well, served really well and neutralized when I attacked extremely well. He played great.”
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