Musetti defeats Auger-Aliassime to clinch Olympic bronze medal
The Italian edged past Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to seal Olympic bronze in the third-place play-off on Philippe-Chatrier
Lorenzo Musetti © Zuma / Panoramic
Lorenzo Musetti has won Italy’s first tennis medal in 100 years, beating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to clinch the Olympic bronze medal in a closely-fought contest on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
It caps an excellent summer for Musetti, who also reached the final at Queen’s before breaking new ground by reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon the following month.
Now, an historic achievement for both Musetti and his country’s tennis history.
The Italian set the tone by breaking in the opening game of the match, only for Auger-Aliassime to break back in the eighth game on his only break point of the set.
But Musetti struck right back as the Canadian failed to consolidate with a loose service game, before he emphatically served out his final service game to love for a one-set lead.
With the arrival of a new set, however, came a rapid shift in momentum as Musetti’s level dipped alarmingly while Auger-Aliassime found his range. It was the Canadian who made the first move in the second stanza, breaking his opponent’s serve in the second and sixth games en route to a 5-1 lead.
From there, the world No 19 confidently served out the set, taking it on a his second set point to force a deserved decider and a one-set shoot-out for bronze.
The third set was a much closer affair than the previous two, with both players defending their serve well under a more risk-averse approach as the finish line grew nearer and the stakes that much higher.
That is, until the eighth game, when Musetti made his move, finally making the breakthrough on his first of two break points to move 5-3 up in the decider.
Musetti then served it out, clinching the win with a wonderful backhand drop-shot to seal his country first singles medal in tennis since 1924.
