Lorenzo Musetti arrived in Paris without any expectations, and he will leave with a bronze medal from the 2024 Olympic Games, which is an incredible achievement for the Italian.
Musetti has been a consistent player for a very long time now, but it wasn't until fairly recently that we've seen a very high level from him. The Italian has had some good performances here and there, but this year, things started to heat up.
At Wimbledon, Musetti suddenly started playing superb tennis on grass and made his way to the semi-final of the major event. It was a run nobody saw coming, but he did it, and it continued on clay.
He went to Umag to play at the Croatia Open and made the final, which was played less than 24 hours before his first match at the Olympics. It proved a losing effort in Umag, as he was beaten in the final, but then he made his way to Paris and continued playing well.
Despite being tired and fatigued, the 22-year-old continued with his brilliant performances to ultimately make his way to the semi-final, where he faced Novak Djokovic in a match in which he wasn't without a chance.
He certainly did well in that match and had a lead in the second set, but he wasn't able to beat Djokovic. The result was a chance for him to compete for the bronze medal instead of the gold one.
It wasn't what he wanted, but Musetti was still in a position to earn an honor nobody saw coming. Italy had high hopes of a medal with Jannik Sinner, but his withdrawal from the Games made Musetti the leading man for the country in Paris, and he was able to deliver a medal.
It comes after a win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, who himself played an outstanding tournament. The match itself was an interesting three-set affair. Musetti took the opening set 6-4 because the Canadian was a bit too shaky.
He made too many unforced errors, which the very solid Musetti used to his advantage. The second set flipped the script, as the Canadian played much better while his opponent sent the ball all over the place.
Auger-Aliassime finished the second set with five aces and 11 winners, while the Italian had 11 unforced errors. Ultimately, it was shown in the result because it was 6-1 for Canadian.
The final set was a competitive battle between the players as they were close in level. Overall, Musetti was a bit better because he never allowed a single break point in the entire set.
Auger-Aliassime allowed break points, and it came back to bite him. The Italian also served a bit more consistently, which also mattered, and overall, he was just the better player, which is why he will be taking the medal with him back to Italy, winning the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
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