It will be the blue derby in Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinal of the ATP 250 in Stuttgart. The Roman, after victories against Safiullin and Shapovalov, also beat the world no. 101, James Duckworth with the score 6-4 7-5. Carrarino, however, won the clash with the No. 3 seed in the seeding Alexander Bublik with the Kazakh’s withdrawal he caused a physical problem in the third set with a score of 4-6 6-1 1-0 in favor of Simone Tartarini’s student. Berrettini has a run of 12 successes and one defeat in his career in Stuttgart: this is the seventh grass semifinal of his career and the third in the tournament. For Musetti it is the first semi-final of his career on grass and the first semi-final of the season that has been missing since September 2023. It will be the second direct confrontation between Berrettini and Musetti after the final won by Lorenzo in Naples, on hard court, in 2022. On the other side of the scoreboard the Nakashima-Draper semifinal. Whatever happens, on Sunday we will have an Italian in the final in Germany.
A growing performance for Matteo who didn’t concede any break points in an hour and a half of match. Deadly in the first set: Francisco Roig’s student takes the lead in the fifth game and closes easily 6-4. In the second set the Roman does not take advantage of three break points in the fifth game, but makes up for it in the 11th, avoiding the tiebreak. Berrettini shows excellent physical stability and exploits his weapons on the grass (slices and short balls). Excellent signs in view of Wimbledon: the Italian has not participated in a Slam draw since the US Open 2023.
