Emerging star Musetti wins on Miami Open debut, Cilic progresses

Lorenzo Musetti built on his good recent form with a first-round victory over Michael Mmoh at the Miami Open on Thursday.

Emerging star Musetti defeated American qualifier Mmoh 6-4, 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with 23rd seed Benoit Paire, who was watching on from the side of the court.

Former US Open champion Marin Cilic also progressed in a three-set victory over Federico Coria, while Thanasi Kokkinakis, Sebastian Korda, Tennys Sandgren and Jordan Thompson were other winners.

Former top-five player Kevin Anderson was among those to bow out in the first round of the ATP 1000 event.

Star on the rise

Italian teenager Musetti continued his rapid rise with a hard-fought victory over Mmoh. The 19-year-old Musetti reached the semi-finals of last week’s Mexican Open, where he beat both Diego Schwartzman and Grigor Dimitrov en route to the semi-finals. This week, Musetti battled past wildcard Mmoh in one hour, 38 minutes.

Musetti magic in Miami 

19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti is into the #MiamiOpen 2R after defeating Mmoh 6-4, 6-4. pic.twitter.com/ae03xdgjbg

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 26, 2021

“Last week was a fantastic run in Acapulco,” Musetti said in his on-court interview. ” I played a really good match, it was a tough match. I think my lethal weapon is the backhand down the line.”

Cilic’s slice of fortune

Former world No 3 Cilic secured his place in the second round with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory against Federico Coria. However, Cilic – the 2014 US Open winner – had a huge slice of luck to claim a break back in the first.

The Croatian got lucky in the first set when, down a break at 2-1 but up 30-40 on the Musetti serve, he mishit his attempted overhead, which caught the top of the frame and dropped over the net for a winner to break back.

“It was important for me to keep my head down, keep the focus and just try to get the best level I could today,” Cilic said.

Fond memories for Thanasi

Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis’ fond memories in Miami returned with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Shintaro Mochizuki as he continued his positive return from a shoulder injury.

Kokkinakis beat then-world No 1 Roger Federer in Miami in 2018.

Korda won his Miami Open debut match, triumphing 6-3, 6-0 over Radu Albot to set up a meeting with 10th seed Fabio Fognini.

Jordan Thompson will face Milos Raonic after accounting for Federico Delbonis 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in two hours, 12 minutes.

Sandgren – a two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist – got past Pedro Martinez 6-4, 2-0, with the Spaniard retiring.

Former Wimbledon and US Open runner-up Anderson was a surprise casualty, going down 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 to lucky loser Damir Dzumhur.

“I know that my game can be much better than what I’m showing right now and my position in the ATP Rankings can be much better,” Dzumhur said.

Day 2 at the #MiamiOpen 

 Musetti d. Mmoh
 Korda d. Albot
Cilic d. Coria
 Kokkinakis d. Mochizuki
 Frantangelo d. Verdasco
 Dzumhur d. Anderson
 Kecmanovic d. Broady
 Sousa d. O’Connell 

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 26, 2021