Lorenzo Musetti dedicated his Lyon Open title to a surprise “lucky charm” after beating Taylor Fritz in the final in straight sets.
The Italian ended his four-year wait to lift another ATP Tour title on Sunday after beating Fritz 6-3, 6-4, snapping his seven-match losing streak in finals in the process.
Musetti has had an injury-hit season, falling outside the world’s top 25 after climbing into the top five after the Australian Open at the start of this year.
And to reach the final, he beat Luca Van Assche in the quarter-finals in a match that lasted more than three hours 30 minutes and ended after 1am on Saturday morning, before backing that up in a three-set victory over top seed Flavio Cobolli just over 12 hours later.
After beating Fritz, he said in his on-court speech, “The spirit of fight was the key for this tournament. I had an incredible attitude. I have to say thanks to my team.
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“The medical staff and physio to get me back in shape. Today I felt more relaxed inside my head and my tennis was more fluid and it was a great performance… It is such a dream I don’t want to wake up.”
Musetti’s main coach, Simone Tartarini, was not present in Lyon but the 24-year-old did single out one new member of his team in particular.
In his first week working with former No 62 Gianluca Mager, Musetti won the third ATP Tour title of his career. The 31-year-old retired from tennis last year after 12 years as a professional.
He won more than $1.5m in prize money, played at all four Grand Slams, made it to the Rio Open final in 2020, and won six ATP Challenger titles and four ITF Futures Tour crowns.
The Italian also secured standout wins over Casper Ruud and Dominic Thiem, when they were ranked No 2 and 3 respectively in the world.
The 6ft 2in Mager, who peaked at 310th in the world for doubles, failed a drugs test in 2010 after smoking marijuana at a party but managed to forge out a respectable career afterwards.
He reportedly runs the tennis school at the Circolo della Foce in Sanremo with his friend and coach Matteo Civarolo. Moreover, Mager married Valentine Confalonieri, who is the sister of Veronica – Musetti’s partner. Therefore, they are brothers-in-law.
As a result, Musetti paid tribute to Mager and his daughter, Vittoria, for giving him a gift for the match.
He said in his on-court victory speech, “I want to say thanks to my team, Gianluca and Federico. It’s been an incredible week. Especially to Gianluca, it’s been our first week together. I think it’s started pretty well.
“We were joking about this when we were leaving for Lyon to try to go until Sunday, and here we are. Let’s say, all the bets were against us but we overcame them during the journey of this tournament. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, so I am really happy with the work we have done.
“Last but not least, I want to say thanks to Gianluca’s daughter, who gave me this necklace as a lucky charm, and I think it worked out really well. So I want to dedicate this trophy to Vittoria, my niece.”
Musetti parted company with coach Jose Perlas just before Wimbledon after just over six months together. Now, his new team appears to be shaping up nicely.
