Lorenzo Musetti Ends Four-Year Title Drought With Dominant Win Over Fritz In Lyon

Lorenzo Musetti said the pain he felt before the Lyon Open final disappeared when he stepped on court to defeat Taylor Fritz and win his first title since 2022.

The Italian sixth seed was in top form throughout his 6-3, 6-4 win over Fritz, who is currently ranked 12 places higher than him in the world at 14th. Musetti forced his rival to produce numerous mistakes throughout the match, especially when he hit the ball high. As a result, Fritz hit 16 more unforced errors than Musetti (27-11) and dropped serve twice.

Musetti’s triumph ends his run of nine consecutive finals losses across both the ATP Tour and Challenger Tour’s. After also defeating compatriot Flavio Cobolli in the semi-finals, the Italian has beaten multiple top 20 players in the same hard-court tournament for only the third time in his career.

“This was totally unexpected. The history of this tournament (this year) for me has been such a roller coaster,” Musetti said afterwards.

“The previous matches have been incredible. I saved four match points (in the semi-finals against Cobolli) to play a fantastic final.

“Honestly, before stepping on the court, I was feeling pain everywhere, but then when I stepped on the court, I started to think and focus on the match. I think I played probably my best tennis.”

The Lyon triumph comes during a challenging season for 24-year-old Musetti, who has been troubled by numerous injury setbacks. He suffered a thigh injury whilst playing at the Australian Open. A thigh problem also kept him out of both the French Open and Wimbledon. More recently, he missed the Japan Open after suffering a small fracture to the ring finger of his right hand during a practice session.

“Fighting spirit was the key for this tournament because I always had an incredible attitude,” he said of his Lyon run.

“I felt more relaxed inside my head, and my tennis went more fluid and it was really a really great performance.”

Musetti has moved up to 24th in the PIF ATP Live rankings following his latest win. He has been ranked as high as 5th in the world.