Musetti cruises past Monfils on UTS debut in Frankfurt

The Illusionist had far too many tricks up his sleeve for Monfils as he wrapped things up in three straight quarters

Lorenzo Musetti © Zuma / Panoramic

October 18, 2024

Lorenzo Musetti made a dream UTS debut as he beat Gael Monfils 27-11, 17-12, 22-14 on Friday to round off an exciting opening day at UTS Frankfurt.

The Italian – The Illusionist – was rock solid throughout and “La Monf” Monfils, who won UTS New York on the eve of the US Open, was too erratic to match him.

“I would give myself a nine,” said Musetti, asked for marks out of 10. “I felt really good from the beginning. I was a little bit tense at the end because I know Gael’s abilities but I’m really happy with the win today.”

Musetti races tHROUGH first quarter

Monfils began the match with a fault and that set the tone for the first quarter, with Musetti pulling well clear early on.

The Italian held the advantage throughout and even extended his lead as Monfils felt his way, slowly, into the match. Confidence was ripping through his veins and when he took the bonus card, he hit an ace to pass the 20-point mark, prompting the DJ to play: “This boy is on fire”.

Trailing 25-9, Monfils tried his bonus card but couldn’t win that either and with Monfils needing to win 17 points in a row to force a deciding point, the match was as good as over and the Italian wrapped up a 27-11 scoreline.

Musetti doubles his lead in style

Monfils said he would come into the match as it went on and so it proved, the Frenchman getting his legs moving and beginning to ask a few more questions of the debutant.

But Musetti remained unruffled and at 11-11, he used his bonus card perfectly to open up a gap. Monfils left it until four seconds remaining to play his card, but couldn’t take it and then lost the first of the “quarter points” as the Italian doubled his lead.

The Illusionist gets the job done in three

With his coach asking him to maintain the same intensity throughout, Musetti led early in the third quarter only for Monfils to rally to lead 6-4, finally finding a little form.

But Musetti showed incredible defence to move ahead again himself at 7-6 and the 38-year-old Monfils was the one feeling things as the cardio impact kicked in.

Suddenly Musetti had his man on the run again and it was too much for Monfils, the Italian cruising through the rest of the quarter to clinch a convincing victory, even if La Moonf gave his fans a taste of what might have been with four points in a row in “quarter points” before a massive backhand from Musetti finished things off.