Crackling debut for Lorenzo Musetti on the grass at Queen’s. The Italian passes the first round of the London tournament by beating with a great comeback Alex de Minaur, second seed in the draw: 1-6 6-4 6-2 the final score, in just over two hours of play. This is the sixth career victory against a Top 10 for Musetti. The last one dates back to last year’s Monte Carlo tournament, when he beat Novak Djokovic, at the time number 1 in the world.
After an extremely complicated first set, where de Minaur dominated, finishing with an eloquent 6-1, the blue improved dramatically in the following two sets. The first serve becomes effective, as does the forehand. And Musetti can show off his best tennis by recovering and beating his opponent with authority.
Nice comeback success too Matteo Arnaldiwhich imposes itself on the French Hugh Humbertseeded #8 of the tournament, in two hours and ten minutes with partial scores of 3-6 6-1 7-6(6). After a painful start, the blue turned in the second set, won brilliantly, and managed to overcome some critical moments in the decisive set, demonstrating great nerves. Arnaldi maintains concentration after a bloody double fault at 5-5 in the tie-break, cancels the match point for his opponent and archives a success that will give him great morale in view of the next match against the Australian Rinky Hijikata.
