It was a crushing defeat that suffered by Lorenzo Musetti against Lloyd Harris in the first round of the Australian Open 2023. The Italian tennis player was clearly favored over the South African, who after having pushed himself up to 31st position a few years ago, has now sunk to 186th place, also thanks to a serious wrist problem that kept him away from the tour for a long time.
An exit from the scene that very few would have predicted. On the contrary. The exponential growth implemented by the 20-year-old in recent times led his fans to hope for a great result at the Australian Open. Now, however, the unexpected braking brings the very talented blue back down to earth, who once again failed to pass the first round at the Happy Slam.
It was a match with two faces that his many fans witnessed in Melbourne. In the first part we saw the young Italian starting the game resigned, listless and totally foul. In no time at all he found himself down by two sets and a break.
At the same time, Harris led the game perfectly, with aces. The game seemed destined to end soon. But no. A sudden change of gear implemented by Musetti immediately paid off for him.
Lorenzo Musetti harshly criticized by former tennis star
The service of the South African player has become more readable.
The Italian appeared decidedly fresher, perky and eager and rose to the chair, unleashing a sample of shots that had not been seen in the first part of the match. The natural consequence was the victory of two sets, which means a tie.
2 even. The inertia of the match seemed to turn all in Musetti’s favor, but Harris, with a newfound lucidity, unexpectedly managed to bring her to the super tie break, played perfectly and won. Great regret for Musetti who comes close to the sensational comeback by a whisker.
Therefore, no blue derby with Jannik Sinner in the third round. Setback that hurts. In the pre-season, the blue number three had offered good performances beating in sequence, in the United Cup, players like Maligeni, Durasovic, Michalski, Sakellaridis, before stopping due to a physical problem against Tiafoe.
The comment of the former champion, now television commentator Paolo Bertolucci, was categorical. He harshly criticized Musetti’s too fluctuating performance on Twitter, who probably paid for having started the match with the handbrake on.
Alla fine @Lorenzo1Musetti avrebbe anche potuto vincere ma l’atteggiamento messo in mostra nelle fasi iniziali del match deve essere bannato — paolo bertolucci (@paolobertolucci) January 16, 2023
