Lorenzo Musetti will face Carlos Alcaraz or Tommy Paul in his first Roland-Garros semi-final, having continued his superb clay-court form against Frances Tiafoe. (More Tennis News)
Musetti triumphed 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 in Tuesday's quarter-final, ensuring he will climb up two places to fifth in the next edition of the ATP world rankings.
The Italian has been in terrific form throughout the European clay-court swing, as the only player to reach the semi-finals at each of Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome this year.
A swift break gave Musetti the upper hand in the opening set with Tiafoe only generating one opportunity to break back, which the Italian saved before breaking again to inch ahead.
Tiafoe improved vastly in the second set, with an early break enough to see him level the match and boost his hopes of a first grand slam semi-final appearance outside his native United States.
That only served to push Musetti to greater heights, though, as he seized the only break point of a tense third set before starting the fourth in tremendous form.
Musetti raced into a 3-0 lead as his excellent movement and clean service game left Tiafoe unable to generate any momentum.
A fifth break got the job done for the Italian, making this his joint-best grand slam run, having also reached the last four at Wimbledon last year.
Data Debrief: Clay-court specialist marches on
Musetti 바카라“ at the age of 23 years and 83 days 바카라“ is the third-youngest player to reach the semi-finals at Roland-Garros, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Roma in a single year since 1990.
He is in strong company, with Rafael Nadal (in 2007) and Novak Djokovic (2008) having previously accomplished the feat.
And after his run to the last four at Wimbledon, Musetti is just the third Italian man to bring up grand slam semi-final appearances on multiple surfaces in the Open Era, after Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner.
