PARIS (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti used his modern one-handed backhand and sprint-then-slide courtroom protection to achieve his first semifinal on the French Open, and second at a Grand Slam match, by beating Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 Tuesday in the identical stadium the place he gained a bronze medal finally 12 months’s Olympics.
When the match ended, Musetti, a 23-year-old Italian, rolled up his inexperienced shirt’s proper sleeve and flexed his biceps. Nobody could be stunned if issues get harder on Friday: That’s when Musetti will meet defending champion Carlos Alcaraz for a berth within the championship match.
Alcaraz wasn’t actually examined Tuesday night time throughout a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over No. 12 Tommy Paul, who had his proper thigh closely taped and wasn’t in a position to produce his greatest tennis.
No. 8 seed Musetti and No. 1 Jannik Sinner — who faces unseeded Alexander Bublik within the quarterfinals Wednesday — gave Italy two male quarterfinalists at Roland-Garros for the primary time since 1973.
Tiafoe additionally was a part of a uncommon accomplishment for his nation: He and Paul have been the primary American males to get to the spherical of eight in Paris since Andre Agassi in 2003 — and the primary duo to do it in the identical 12 months since Jim Courier and Pete Sampras in 1996. However with Tuesday’s outcomes, U.S. males are 1-60 since 1999 on the French Open in opposition to opponents ranked within the high 10.
In ladies’s motion, three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka each gained in straight units to arrange a semifinal showdown on Thursday.
No. 15 Tiafoe, a 27-year-old from Maryland, hadn’t dropped a set on the way in which to the quarterfinals. However he wasn’t as much as the duty in opposition to Musetti, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2024.
Sporting a sequence round his neck with a pendant studying “Huge Foe” in capital letters, Tiafoe missed all eight first serves in his preliminary service recreation and despatched a backhand broad to provide Musetti a 2-0 lead. Tiafoe checked out his coach, David Witt, and complained concerning the wind.
“He didn’t begin as he wished, however right now it was actually difficult to play properly,” Musetti mentioned. “It was so windy and it was tough to handle to hit correctly.”
At match’s finish, Musetti had extra winners, 44-33, and much fewer unforced errors, 51-32.
Nonetheless, when two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Tiafoe smacked a forehand to even the match at a set apiece, he set free a roar and shouted: “Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Throughout that set, Musetti was warned for unsportsmanlike conduct for kicking a tennis ball that inadvertently hit a linesperson. In contrast to most top-level tennis tournaments, which depend on digital line-calling, there are nonetheless people on courtroom at Roland-Garros to determine whether or not pictures land in or out.
The purpose of the match got here within the third set’s sixth recreation.
Musetti stretched broad of the doubles alley close to the online to achieve a shot at a seemingly inconceivable angle. Tiafoe then did the identical in response, sending his close to the baseline. Musetti ran and, together with his again to the online, twisted his physique to one way or the other flick a low ball again with a half-swing. It labored, although, and Tiafoe — maybe startled to see the purpose wasn’t over — netted a clumsy, shoulder-high volley.
That set swung Musetti’s means when he broke in its final recreation. On a 12-stroke alternate, Tiafoe tried an ill-advised and ill-struck drop shot that the speedy Musetti received to, conjuring up a down-the-line backhand winner. Now it was his flip to punch the air and yell.
Instructed by the postmatch interviewer that he has a sublime recreation, Musetti joked: “I imply, we’re Italian. We’re elegant.”
He’s 13-4 in his French Open profession, and three of these losses got here in opposition to an opponent ranked No. 1 — Novak Djokovic twice, Alcaraz as soon as. The one means he’ll have to cope with the top-ranked man this time in Paris is that if it’s his pal Sinner standing throughout the online on Sunday with the trophy within the offing.
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