The quarterfinal match at the 2023 Cinch Championships between Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti had everything needed, and also something extra.
The two youngsters met in a fight for a semifinal spot at the Queen's Club, a stage neither of them reached on the grass before. The match showcased the talents of both players but it had also some extra spice.
In the second set of the match, Musetti had an overhead to hit and an open court, but instead of putting it away into one of many empty spaces, the Italian fired the ball directly at Rune, who didn't seem to be very happy about it.
However, he didn't have to be very concerned by that as he managed to beat the Italian in two sets and emerge victorious from the matchup that may turn into a real rivalry on the ATP Tour in the years to come.
The moment was remembered by everyone watching and it wasn't a surprise when the young Dane was asked about the incident during his post-match press conference. According to his own words, it just gave him another reason to win the match.
"Yeah, of course he can do what he wants. I mean, it's not the best thing to do, for sure. But again, it is legal. He can do what he want. He can hit the ball where he wants to. Yeah, for sure, this just give me fire in the belly to beat him even more. I'm super happy to manage to beat him in two sets. It feels good. I'm in the semifinal; he's not. So I'm happy."
Other than that, Rune was really happy to see himself in the semifinal of the grass-court tournament as prior to the 2023 season, he has never won a match on the green surface, but that change at the Queen's Club.
"Yeah, I'm extremely happy to be in the first semifinal on grass. It's going much better. I think today was a good test to see where my level is at, because I was forced to play a lot of long rallies and move well. So I'm happy on where I stand right now. It's going to be harder matches of course from now, but yeah, looking forward to it. I'm feeling better and better."
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