Musetti Upsets Zverev To Reach Vienna Semifinals

Lorenzo Musetti, Erste Bank Open, Vienna
Lorenzo Musetti (photo: e|motion/Bildagentur Zolles KG/Sacha Feuster)

VIENNA/WASHINGTON, October 25, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti came into his quarterfinal-round match against top seed Alexander Zverev at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Friday hoping to build upon his his Paris Olympics win against the current World No. 3.

The 22-year-old Italian, who was 2-10 against Top-10 competition on hard courts and looking for his first win since defeating then-No. 4 Casper Ruud at the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, stymied Zverev with a stunning comeback and beat the German No. 1, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in two hours and 37 minutes on Center Court. Down a set and 0-3 in a second-set tie-break, Musetti dug deep and came alive — both in the winning the tiebreaker and also in the deciding set — to pull out the victory.

“It didn’t start how we planned, I was struggling to find the right balance with my forehand and the variation of my backhand,” Musetti said in his post-match interview with ATP Media, after improving to 2-1 lifetime against Zverev. “But I stayed there, even when he came back in the second, I saved a lot of break points at 5-5. It’s definitely a match that means a lot to me.

“It’s a pretty big win [in my career], because Sascha really loves to play here, on this court, in these conditions. But, after the first round, I was feeling in good shape and today I showed that.” I 

The loss stunned Zverev’s fans, who filled much of Wiener Stadthalle and were hoping their favorite could repeat his 2021 Vienna title success. Competing in his fourth Erste Bank Open quarterfinal, Zverev was attempting to reach his first indoor semifinal since 2022 at Montpellier.

Instead, the sixth-seeded Musetti has reached his second hard-court semifinal of the season following his solid run in Chengdu, China last month. He did so by hitting 36 winners to 21 unforced errors, saved eight of 12 break points, and converted three of nine break points — despite being outpointed by Zverev 104-96.

On Saturday, Musetti will oppose World No. 18 Jack Draper. The seventh seed from Great Britain, making his Vienna debut this week, defeated No. 27 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in two hours and seven minutes on Center Court. The victory was Draper’s 36th of the season — his second in three meetings with Machac in 2024 — and it lifted him into his eighth tour-level semifinal and second one indoors.

“I thought the first set was really physical. It’s always tough playing Tomas, he’s so solid off the ground,” Draper said after the match in an interview with ATP Media. “I felt I had chances in the second set, but it was more of a mental battle [than a physical one].

“I felt like my energy dropped, my decision making became up and down. I knew I had to reset. At this level, you can’t get away with spending too long in that situation. So, I’m really proud of the way I competed.”

Khachanov runs winning streak to seven with latest victory

Meanwhile, 24th-ranked Karen Khachanov of Russia, one of four players to have picked up three tour-level titles this year — including at Almaty last week — defeated No. 41 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 6-1, 6-4, in an hour and 18 minutes to advance to the semifinal round. It was Khachanov’s seventh straight victory over the last two tournaments.

Khachanov hit 15 winners and saved both break points he faced from Berrettini, who entered the quarterfinal 4-0 against the Russian. He outpointed his opponent 60-43.

Next, Khachanov will face World No. 10 and second seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, who battled past 51st-ranked qualifier Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 34 minutes on Center Court in a match that wrapped up just before midnight.

De Minaur withstood 48 winners from Mensik and took advantage of 66 unforced errors by the 19-year-old Czech teenager. He hit 17 winners, saved all four break points he faced, and outpointed Mensik 113-102.

Around the Erste Bank Open

Unseeded Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand advanced to Sunday’s doubles final by defeating unseeded Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina, 7-6 (7), 6-4 in the semifinal round, in an hour and 48 minutes on the #Glaubandich Court.

Skupski and Venus combined to hit seven aces and outpointed their opponents 72-69. They will await the winner of Saturday’s other semifinal between unseeded Austrian wild cards Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler versus No. 3 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain.

In the last quarterfinal, Erler and Miedler defeated Luciano Darderi of Italy and Mariano Navone of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, in 61 in minutes to move into the last four. The Austrian duo broke their opponents four times and outpointed them 61-38.

Friday’s Erste Bank Open results

Saturday’s Erste Bank Open order of play

By the numbers

Alex de Minaur reached his 25th ATP Tour semifinal (17-7) with his quarterfinal win over Jakub Mensik Friday night. It’s his third ATP 500 semifinal of the season (following Rotterdam and Acapulco) and he’s the second Australian to reach the Vienna semifinals after Todd Woodbridge in 1995.

“Quotable …”

“I’m doing my best to focus on myself. There are no big expectations, I don’t know how the body is going to pull up. If I just keep spending time on court, then it’s a good thing.”

— World No. 10 Alex de Minaur of Australia, during his post-match interview with ATP Media Thursday, commenting on the ATP Live Race To Turin, in which he’s in ninth place.

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