Peru’s Varillas stuns Musetti to reach Buenos Aires semis
Juan Pablo Varillas beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4 on Friday night and will face second seed Cameron Norrie in the next round
Juan Pablo Varillas 2023 Australian Open | AI / Reuters / Panoramic
Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas continues to have his way with heavily favoured clay-courters in Buenos Aires. The 27-year-old ousted Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 3 seed, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Argentina Open on Friday night.
Varillas, ranked No 101, will face second seed Cameron Norrie next, in his maiden ATP semi-final.
“I’m really happy,” the Peruvian said on court. “I’ve been working for these types of matches all my life so I’ll try to keep going, and keep fighting until the end.”
Varillas was extremely steady and determined against Musetti, as he broke the 20-year-old’s serve four times on eight opportunities to earn his second career top 20 victory.
Varillas, one of five men from Peru to have ever cracked the top 100, has risen from 101 to 81 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week.
The Peruvian defeated Portuguese João Sousa (6-2, 7-5) and Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem (6-4, 6-4) ahead of his victory.
In the previous round of the Buenos Aires Open, Musetti, ranked No 20, won against Argentinian Pedro Cachin (6-2, 6-3).
Buenos Aires ATP250, other last eight results (Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, clay, USD 626.595, most recent results first):
- Bernabe Zapata Miralles vs. Francisco Cerundolo
- Carlos Alcaraz vs. Dusan Lajovic
- Cameron Norrie beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 5-7, 6-0, 6-3
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