Lorenzo Musetti of Italy defeated Taylor Fritz of the United States to advance to the Wimbledon 2024 semifinals, where he will take on second-seeded Novak Djokovic. On July 10th, a 5-set match saw Musetti defeat Fritz.
At Wimbledon on Wednesday, Lorenzo Musetti advanced to his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal after defeating American 13th seed Taylor Fritz 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 3-6 6-1.
The 25th-seeded Italian faces seven-time All England Club champion Novak Djokovic in the round of four, which presents a significant obstacle to his hopes of becoming a major title this year and joining compatriot and world number one Jannik Sinner.
Following a close first game, Fritz took advantage of a backhand by Musetti to take a 3-1 lead. The American then solidified the lead in the following game with a strong forehand winner that established the pattern for the opening set.
In the beautiful sunshine, the Eastbourne champion kept up his aggressive forehand and serve, occasionally igniting the Court One supporters with rockets from the baseline. He also took the lead in the match with an ace.
The second set began with the two exchanging breaks. Musetti, the runner-up from Queen’s Club, pounced once more to lead 5-3. Fritz managed to erase the deficit, but the Italian upped his game to win the tiebreak.
After introducing chips and slices into his game, Musetti had Fritz commit uncharacteristic errors and easily won the third set on the strength of two breaks. However, after losing the next set, he gave the American a path back into the match.
In the decider, Fritz hit a shot long after tripping at the net in the previous point, giving Musetti a 5-0 lead. The players found it difficult to play with the shadows covering the well-manicured pitch.
As a result, Musetti will play 24-time Grand Slam victor Djokovic, who advanced to Wimbledon’s record-tying 13th semifinal after ninth-seeded Australian Alex De Minaur withdrew due to a hip ailment.
