Lorenzo Musetti is into the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open after beating Ugo Humbert 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 in the last quarter-final on Thursday, 12 November. The third seed will play top seed Taylor Fritz on Friday, while Alejandro Tabilo faces Thiago Agustin Tirante in the other semi-final of the indoor ATP 250 event.
A comeback in the deciding set
The match closed a long day on Centre Court and lasted two hours and 29 minutes, according to the ATP Tour and Tennis Majors. It was their first tour-level meeting, and it stayed close throughout. Musetti edged a first-set tie-break 7-5, but Humbert, last year's runner-up here, levelled by taking the second set 6-3.
The Frenchman then broke early in the decider and was in front, but Musetti broke back and won the set 6-4. "The key to the match was to have a [positive] reaction after losing the second set," Musetti told the ATP Tour. He also noted that "we both served pretty well".
Humbert, ranked No. 39, had reached the quarter-finals with straight-sets wins over Adolfo Daniel Vallejo and qualifier Borna Gojo. Musetti, No. 25 on our ATP rankings page, had beaten British qualifier Toby Samuel 6-1, 6-4 after a first-round bye.
Musetti's strong indoor autumn
The win continues a productive indoor swing for the Italian. The ATP Tour noted that he is now 10-2 on indoor hard courts this season. He won the title in Lyon last month and, at the Paris Masters, beat world No. 1 Alexander Zverev in the third round.
Both the ATP and Tennis Majors pointed out that he is the first Italian to reach the semi-finals in Stockholm since Fabio Fognini in 2018.
The completed semi-final line-up
Musetti's win means all four semi-finalists are known. Fritz went through on Thursday without playing after Holger Rune withdrew with a hamstring problem, and Tabilo and Tirante also won their quarter-finals, as we reported in our earlier Thursday report. Fritz, ranked No. 10, is the highest-ranked player left in the draw.
The official order of play has the Tabilo v Tirante semi-final on Centre Court not before 14:00 local time on Friday, 13 November, followed by Fritz v Musetti not before 17:00. The bottom half guarantees a South American finalist: Tabilo, No. 31, is the second Chilean to reach the last four in Stockholm after Marcelo Rios, and Tirante, No. 51, is in his third ATP semi-final and his first on a hard court.
What it means
Fritz goes into the semi-final having played only one match this week, a 7-5, 6-3 win over Cameron Norrie on Wednesday. Musetti needed three sets on Thursday, but he showed he can recover from losing a set and a break, which could matter against a big server like Fritz.
For the top half, the question is whether Musetti's indoor form can trouble the top seed. In the bottom half, either Tabilo or Tirante will reach a first ATP final on indoor hard courts.
Sources
This article was written by TiebreakNews from the reporting below, checked against official results and rankings.
- ATP Tour — Musetti survives Humbert in Stockholm, Fritz into SFs after Rune withdraws
- ATP Tour — Stockholm results
- ATP Tour — Stockholm daily schedule
- Tennis Majors — Stockholm, Day 4: Musetti battles past Humbert to set up Fritz semi-final, Tabilo meets Tirante