In the fight to make their first Grand Slam semifinal, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Taylor Fritz in five sets to advance to the next round at Wimbledon.
Musetti held on to beat Fritz even after the American forced a fifth set, with the Italian taking the win 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
A Musetti masterpiece 🎨
Lorenzo Musetti defeats Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in a stunning performance to set up a semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic 👀#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/xTAwFwkr9H
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2024
Things went Fritz’s way at the start. He won four of the first five games against Musetti, who looked tight and tentative on the court, and easily took the first set. If things had kept going that way, it would have been a short match.
But Musetti found his feet pretty quickly in the second set, giving Fritz a real fight. He took his first lead of the match when he went up 2-1, and kept forcing Fritz to catch up. The confidence from Fritz’s first set victory wasn’t gone, but it was taking a bruising. He managed to force Musetti into a tiebreak, which he then lost without much drama.
Tied 1-1, Fritz and Musetti were essentially starting over and playing a best-of-three. But the momentum Musetti built in that hard-fought second set carried over into the third. He had Fritz on the ropes immediately, winning the first two games and storming past Fritz’s wins in games three and seven to take the set and a 2-1 lead.
Fritz, who had been getting increasingly frustrated with his box over the first three sets, went inside the locker room during the break between sets three and four and completely changed his outfit. He could have been drenched with sweat, or maybe he just wanted to get the scent of the last few sets off of him.
Either way, it helped him at the start of the fourth set. Fritz won the first game, then managed to stake out a 3-2 lead. The 26-year-old American then continued his momentum to win the fourth set 6-3, forcing a deciding set.
But Musetti outlasted Fritz, starting the set by winning five straight games. Fritz went down after going for a low shot in the seventh game, clutching his knee. However, he stood up moments later and was able to continue. Immediately afterward, Musetti took the match point and won the game.
With the win, Musetti advances to the semifinals, his best result since joining the tour in 2020. The 22-year-old Italian will now face Novak Djokovic, who advanced after opponent Alex de Minaur withdrew due to injury.
