Musetti makes light work of lucky loser to reach third round
PARIS : Italian Lorenzo Musetti continued his renaissance when he eased into the third round of the French Open with a no-nonsense 6-4 6-0 6-4 victory against Colombian lucky loser Daniel Galan on Wednesday.
The eighth-seeded Musetti's main trouble was intermittent rain on Court Simonne Matthieu as he set up a meeting with Argentine Mariano Navone or Reilly Opelka of the US.
'It was a solid performance from the beginning until the end. I had some ups and downs during the first and the third set. Definitely, I cannot complain about the level that I'm showing,' Musetti, who reached the final at the Monte Carlo Masters and the last four in Madrid and Rome in the three big claycourt tournaments before Roland Garros, told reporters.
'The conditions today were not easy but I managed to find a way to show my tennis and my game. I think we made a great, great match.'
Musetti said things had started clicking into place after the Monte Carlo Masters last month.
'After the final in Monte Carlo, there was, I think, a boost of confidence, of something inside that I needed to have. That was probably the results, the thing that I achieved in Monte Carlo,' said the world number seven, who has never made it past the fourth round at Roland Garros.
'It was a strange week because every match I came back from a set down. Many, many times I was really close to losing the match.
'Definitely, I think after that I felt like another player also in the daily routine and I know better what I have to do. Of course, also the results in Madrid and Rome, they were like the confirmation of this step forward that I made,' he said.
A Galan double fault in the third game handed Musetti the first break and the Italian opened up a 5-2 lead after aggressive play helped him to steal his opponent's serve again.
The Colombian pulled back a break in the eighth game as Musetti's serve wobbled. But, Musetti saw off another break as he served for the set, which he bagged with a commanding smash.
He then stepped up a gear, allowing Galan only five points in the second set and while the Colombian offered more in the third, there was no comeback as Musetti wrapped it up on serve.
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