With the pressure on, home favourite Lorenzo Musetti delivered Wednesday at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals to record his first victory in Milan in front of a raucous crowd.
The Italian showcased a combination of flair and grit, overcoming Hugo Gaston 4-3(4), 4-3(6), 2-4, 3-4(7), 4-2 to keep alive his hopes of qualifying as he moved to 1-1 in Group B.
Gaston Relishing Future Rivalries With Milan Competitors
In a battle of two of the most talented players on Tour, exquisite shot-making was the order of the day, with drop shots and flicked backhand winners frequent as both players demonstrated great to touch in a high-quality match.
Musetti lost to Argentine Sebastian Baez on opening night at the Allianz Cloud. But he did not let it deter him against Gaston, recovering from squandering two match points at 6/4 in the fourth-set tie-break as he chased down everything the Frenchman threw at him to advance after two hours and 33 minutes in the longest match in the tournament’s history.
The 19-year-old, who is the youngest of nine Italians in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, reached tour-level semi-finals in Acapulco and Lyon earlier this year and enjoyed a run to the fourth round at Roland Garros.
The World No. 58 will face Group B leader Sebastian Korda in his final round-robin match on Friday as he looks to qualify for the semi-finals. Korda leads the way on two victories, while Baez, like Musetti, holds a 1-1 record. Baez faces Gaston on Thursday.