LYON/STARNBERG, May 18, 2021
Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti won the battle of the #NextGenATP stars with No. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime to record the fifth Top 20 win of his career on Tuesday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, an ATP 250 clay-court tournament being held at the Parc de la Tête d’Or in Lyon, France.
In the pair’s second meeting, Musetti capitalized on four of his 12 break-point chances to secure his first victory over the Canadian after two hours and 45 minutes.
Magical Muse
Lorenzo Musetti knocks out Auger-Aliassime 7-6 3-6 7-5 in Lyon and will face Sebi Korda in round two#OpenParc pic.twitter.com/j7xCtTSLq7
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 18, 2021
“We played a really intense match, a real fight,” said Musetti. “I learned from the loss to Felix in Barcelona. It’s a good start and I hope to continue like that.”
The 19-year-old, who entered the main draw in France’s third-largest city as an alternate, will next take on US-American young gun Sebastian Korda. The 20-year-old defeated local favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(5), 6-4 on Monday.
“It’s going to be really tough [against Korda] and he’s one of the best #NextGenATP right now,” said Musetti. “I know him so well from juniors. We never played against each other. He is a fighter, so I will try and do my best to get into the quarterfinals.”
Gasquet, Monfils advance
Two Frenchmen booked their spot in the second-round. Richard Gasquet fought past compatriot and qualifier Gregoire Barrere 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The 34-year-old Beziers native sent down six aces and won 76 per cent of his first-service points to advance after two hours and 13 minutes. Gasquet will next take on No. 3 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.
In other action, No. 5 seed Gael Monfils defeated Brazilian lucky loser Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes to face Yoshihito Nishikoka of Japan.
Thiem top seed
The field in Lyon is led by Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who is one of two former Lyon champions in the draw, joining Jo-Wilfried Tsonga). The World No. 4 is coming off a semi-final appearance in Madrid and a third round in Rome the past two weeks. Thiem will open his title bid against Cameron Norrie from Great Britain on Thursday.
No. 2 seed is Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo last month and has reached finals in Acapulco and Barcelona. The 22-year-old Greek star will face US-American Tommy Paul.
