Bastad Loves Musetti And His Tennis Shows Why He Loves The Swedish Resort Town

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (photo: Brigitte Urban)

BASTAD/WASHINGTON, July 21, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

Lorenzo Musetti loves Bastad, and the city and its fans love the popular and charismatic young Italian known for his graceful movement about the court. It’s a perfect match, one that has brought him to the lovely Swedish resort town three times to compete in the ATP 250 Nordea Open.

On Friday, although the World No. 16 from Carrara, Italy didn’t always play perfect tennis during his quarterfinal match on the red clay under mostly sunny skies, by the end, Musetti won a battle of 21-year-olds with Austria’s Filip Misolic, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to his second tour-level final four of the season. Musetti struck five aces, won 74 percent of his first-serve points and converted four of 16 break points. He outpointed Misolic 99-78.

At a set apiece, and with Musetti serving at 5-2, Misolic saved a match point with a solid forehand winner and had a couple of break points to erase one of the earlier breaks. However, the No. 3 seed Musetti came through at the end of the two-hour, four-minute quarterfinal and marched on to victory with an inside-out forehand winner. After dropping the opening set, he won 12 of the last 15 games.

After battling to a three-set win mid-week against fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi, then beating the 139th-ranked qualifier Misolic, Musetti has improved to 14-9 on clay this season. He’s 5-1 against competition ranked outside the Top 100.

“It was a really tough match. He was playing really good; really solid from the first set,” Musetti said during his on-court interview. “I couldn’t break his serve and I had so many break points that I didn’t take. I was good in the important moments. I tried to be more high intensity and raised my level. I’m really happy to be in the semifinals.”

Next, Musetti will play 2021 Bastad titlist and this year’s top seed Casper Ruud. The popular World No. 4 from Norway defeated No. 58 Sebastian Ofner of Austria, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 28 minutes for his 19th win of the season on clay. Ruud won 78 percent of his service points, and the victory placed him into his fourth semifinal of the season to go along with previous final four appearances at Estoril, Rome and the French Open. It is also the second time for him to reach the Bastad final four following his title run two years ago.

“I’m happy, another win today, another good performance from my side,” Ruud expressed in his on-court interview. He remains very much in the chase for his second title this season on clay and 11th career crown overall.

“I’m very happy to be through in two sets. Sebastian has been playing really well this year. He won a tournament last week [at Salzburg] and made the quarterfinals here. I’m happy to be able to stop him from his victory run. It’s very good to be back in the semifinals here.”

Rublev wins battle among friends with Zverev

Meanwhile, in the bottom or half of the draw, who could have imagined that a pair of Top-20 stars, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev, would find themselves squaring off in the quarterfinals of an ATP 250? Least of all Rublev. He quipped about his predicament after his second-round victory over Russian qualifier Pavel Kotov on Thursday advanced him to face Zverev, who is currently ranked 19th.

“It’s crazy! Sometimes, it happens and it’s part of the sport, I guess,” the World No. 7 from Russia said. “I hope we have a good match. What else can I say? We’re good friends. He’s playing amazing tennis again. He played well at Roland Garros. It’s going to be a tough match. Hopefully we’ll show good tennis.”

As it happened, Rublev kept his promise. He dominated the German fifth seed by playing aggressively from the baseline and pulled off a 6-2, 6-3 victory in an economical 67 minutes. The victory moved Rublev into his second straight Bastad semifinal. He’s won 16 of 20 matches on clay this season, including his title run at Monte-Carlo last April, and he improved to 4-2 against players ranked inside the Top 20 in his past six matches.

Afterward, Rublev reflected on his victory over Zverev, who was a 2015 Bastad semifinalist. “I’m happy to be in my second semifinal in a row in Bastad, and today I played great tennis. I’m happy with my performance,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to win in straight sets.”

Rublev fired six aces, won 80 percent of his first-serve points and saved the only two break points he faced. He outpointed Zverev 54-39. By comparison, Zverev hit three double faults and was broken three times.

“Playing against your best friend is always tough. It’s a part of the sport. I’m happy I was able to win today,” Rublev added.

On Saturday, Rublev will oppose defending champion and World No. 20 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina. The No. 4 seed Cerundolo defeated fellow Argentine Federico Coria, ranked 113th, 6-3, 6-3, in 90 minutes. It was their fifth meeting at ATP Tour level.

Coria brought a 3-1 career head-to-head advantage into their quarterfinal. However, it was actually their ninth career meeting going back to other meetings on the Challenger and Futures circuits. This time, Cerundolo – although far from perfect – benefited from six breaks of Coria’s serve and he outpointed his opponent 70-61 for his seventh career win in Bastad.

By winning, Cerundolo ensured that all four of this year’s top four seeds at the Nordea Open are through to the semifinal round.

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