Lorenzo Musetti defies odds to lift maiden title in Hamburg

By: ReutersJuly 25, 2022 1:04:39 pm

The emotions of lifting his maiden Tour-level trophy will be hard to forget for 20-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who overcame disrupted preparations and survived a rollercoaster ride at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg.

Musetti had lost his last six matches on the tour before the Hamburg European Open and arrived at the German port city without his bag of rackets.

Although he managed to sort out his playing gear in time for the tournament, he then suffered a bout of food poisoning.

“I arrived here… with all the strikes, one of my luggage (bags) got lost. (It was) the one with the rackets, so I was a little bit worried about how I would play,” Musetti told the ATP Tour after his victory on Sunday.

Subscriber Only StoriesView All

PremiumUPSC Key-October 11, 2022: Why you should read ‘Caste Politics’ or ‘Urban...

PremiumHow a young Indian startup is making calculators ‘smart’ for millions of ...

PremiumUPSC Essentials: Key terms of the past week with MCQs

PremiumSaifai lines up at ‘Netaji’ home for a last glimpse: ‘He gave us energy’Buy at just Rs 66 per month now

“The night before the start of the matches, I threw up all night. I had food poisoning, so I felt a little bit sick. I didn’t expect to go as far as I went, so I’m happy that my luck turned around at this tournament.”

He was on the brink of his seventh straight loss in the opening round against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic but showed great resilience to save two match points before registering his first Tour-level victory since May.

Top Sports News NowSourav Ganguly out of BCCI after declining IPL chairman postSouth Africa left with questions to answer ahead of T20 World Cup after India drubbingNRAI introduces Olympic trials to pick shooting team for ParisClick here for more

Musetti was playing his first championship final on Sunday while his opponent — Spain’s 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz — came into the contest having won all five Tour-level finals he had reached.

Advertisement

The Italian wasted five championship points in the second set but found the mental strength to down Alcaraz, who on Monday became the youngest player to break into the world’s top five since Rafa Nadal in 2005, 6-4 6-7(6) 6-4 in a thriller.

“For me it’s a dream. Obviously, I always dreamed about winning a title and I didn’t have any chances before,” said Musetti, who rose to a career-high ranking of 31. “It’s the first time, so I have no words to describe how it feels.

“The emotions I had today, I will keep it in my heart and my head for a long time.”

First published on: 25-07-2022 at 01:04:39 pm Next Story

Nasa on building a nuclear reactor in space and what’s next

Tags:HamburgExplained Climate |