Hamburg European Open: Lorenzo Musetti stuns Carlos Alcaraz to win his maiden ATP trophy

Lorenzo Musetti had never advanced to an ATP Tour level final before the 2022 Hamburg European Open. While World No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz Garfia had already won five ATP trophies. However, the 20-year-old Italian maintained his composure to beat his Spanish opponent 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 after two hours and 42 minutes of intense play.

World No. 62 Lorenzo Musetti started aggressively and took control of the match with various powerful shots from the baseline to throw Carlos Alcaraz off balance. The 19-year-old Spaniard struggled to find his rhythm and made several uncharacteristic errors. Musetti got a decisive break at 3-3 when Carlos Alcaraz fired the ball into the net to make it 4-3 before clinching the first set with a forehand winner.

Carlos Alcaraz Garfia fended off a breakpoint in the first game of the second set to get back into the game but struggled to maintain the momentum as the Italian moved to 5-4, 40/15. Lorenzo Musetti failed to convert his two championship points, allowing Carlos Alcaraz to move ahead and clinch the second set despite a 3/6 deficit.

Lorenzo Musetti showed great mental fortitude to recover against Carlos Alcaraz in the third set. He got a 5-4 lead before the Spaniard faltered on a backhand long shot on the sixth championship point opportunity of Lorenzo Musetti. It was the first-ever loss for the Spanish teenager in the tour-level finals.

In an on-court interview, Lorenzo Musetti said, “I have no words because it was a roller-coaster until the end. I had so many match points. Carlos was so good on the match points; I had so many chances. But I think the key to the match was to keep calm and have all patience with myself because it was not easy. Carlos was putting so much effort in the match points when he was down, so it was not easy to find the energy to come back.”

Lorenzo Musetti moved to his career-high ranking of World No. 31, while Carlos Alcaraz broke into the Top-5 on Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings for the first time in his career after their strong performances on the clay court in Hamburg.

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