Musetti Saves Match Point to Reach Athens Final and Prolong Turin Hopes
Lorenzo Musetti saved a match point to defeat Sebastian Korda in Athens on Friday, keeping his hopes alive of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin. The Italian won with a score of 6-0, 5-7, 7-5 and will face Novak Djokovic in the final. Djokovic ended his streak of semi-final losses by defeating Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-4.
Musetti currently ranks ninth in the race for the eight-player Finals starting Monday in his home country. He must win the Athens tournament to gain enough points to surpass Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the standings.
Match Highlights
- Musetti started strong, losing only five points in the first set.
- The second set saw a series of breaks, with Korda eventually taking it 7-5.
- In the third set, Korda had a break point and a match point in the 10th game, but Musetti escaped by using a drop shot followed by a lob.
- Musetti then broke Korda's serve and saved a break point in his next service game before breaking again to win after 2 hours and 20 minutes.
"I think we both played a fantastic match," Musetti said. "The level was getting higher and the adrenaline was intense."
"Achieving the final here is really important and I am already focusing on tomorrow."
Summary: Lorenzo Musetti fought back from match point down to reach the Athens final, keeping his ATP Finals qualification hopes alive by defeating Sebastian Korda 6-0, 5-7, 7-5.