ROMA. Lorenzo Musetti suffers but advances; Matteo Berrettini gives in and says goodbye to New York. This happened in an Italian key on the night of the US Open, the fourth and last without the 2024 Grand Slam on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.
The 22-year-old tennis player from Carrara, number 18 in the world and seeded, won in the fifth set, after 3 hours and 45 minutes of battle against Miomir Kecmanovic, 54 in the international ranking, thus reaching the third round. The Italian won with the score of 3-6 6-4 6-4 2-6 7-5, canceling out two match points from his opponent in the fifth set at 5-4 in favor of the Serbian. Then, at 5 all, he won an interminable game, breaking Kecmanovic’s serve with a couple of incredible recoveries, showing great athletic condition. The Serbian, on the other hand, “paid” the price with cramps, collapsing in the last game. In the sixteenth finals Musetti will face the American Brandon Nakashima, 50 in the ATP ranking.
Instead, he says goodbye to New York, showing that his physical condition is not optimal, Matthew Berrettini. The Roman, 28 years old, 44 in the world, lost against the American Taylor Fritz, number 12 in the international ranking and 12th force in the draw, with the score of 6-3 7-6 (1) 6-1. The Italian was almost never in the match, less incisive than usual in serving, dominated for long stretches of the match by his opponent. “I have to compliment Fritz. He played a crazy match and he was simply better than me. I would like to watch the match again but I don’t remember two unforced errors in a row from him. He put a lot of pressure on me, both when he served and on the return. In my opinion, in these conditions he is ahead of his ranking: he is a player to always avoid. Furthermore, when I saw that they closed the roof I understood that it would be even more complex: the conditions change a lot, with the humidity the ball moves less in the air and paradoxically the conditions become slower. I fought with everything I had but when one plays better, one plays better”, said the Roman at the end of the match.
2024-08-29 14:35:29