Lorenzo Musetti continues hot streak in Umag as he sets up ‘friendly derby’ against ‘one of his best friends’

ATP Tour
Lorenzo Musetti

Barely 48 hours after winning his maiden ATP Tour title, Lorenzo Musetti notched up another victory as he kicked off his Croatia Open Umag campaign with a hard-fought win over Aljaz Bedene.

Musetti stunned fellow young gun Carlos Alcaraz in the Hamburg European Open on Sunday and he was back on duty on Tuesday as he overcame a poor second set to defeat Bedene 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

The eighth seed opened the match with a break to love in the first game and then claimed a second break in game seven.

He continued the momentum in the second set with another break in the opening game, but the Slovakian won four games in a row, courtesy back-to-back breaks, before serving out the set.

Musetti then opened a 2-0 lead in the deciding set, but Bedene broke back in game three only for the Italian to win the four remaining games.

“I think I learned a lot from last week,” Musetti said during his post-match interview. “I think I grew up as a human being, as a professional player. There were a lot of difficult moments in this match, but I arrived in a positive way.

“That’s why I won today, because Aljaz was playing really good, especially in the second set and the beginning of the third. So it was not easy for me to find a way to break his game.”

Lorenzo Musetti overcomes lost luggage, food poisoning and Carlos Alcaraz to realise title dream

Up next is his good friend Marco Cecchinato after the Italian qualifier defeated wildcard Mili Poljicak from Croatia.

“It’s a friendly derby,” Musetti said. “We are really close friends. He’s one of my best friends on Tour… I’m happy to share the court with him and have a fun battle with him.”

Seventh seed Fabio Fognini crashed out as the Italian was beaten by Daniel Galan from Colombia, going down 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Aljaz Bedene Lorenzo Musetti Marco Cecchinato

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