The men's Olympic tennis tournament in Paris will have a new champion. This became clear after Alexander Zverev lost to Lorenzo Musetti 5-7, 5-7 in a match of the quarter-final stage of the competition that lasted just over two hours.
Zverev, winner of the trophy from Tokyo three years ago, started the match badly and conceded a break in his first service game. However, Musetti, a Wimbledon semi-finalist, lost his composure at 5-4 while serving for the set. Zverev, though, failed to react positively after the break and fell behind again, and then his Italian opponent made no mistake despite having to save two break points. The second set was dictated by the servers. Musetti patiently waited for his moment and, after a break in the 11th game, served successfully for a place in the 1/2-finals in the French capital.
The Italian dropped just eight first serve points for the entire match and saved 4/5 break opportunities against his German opponent. Zverev, for his part, hit 14 winners against as many as 29 unforced errors. Musetti awaits Novak Djokovic or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz continued his tournament run after seeing off Tommy Paul 6-3, 7-6 (7).
The second-seeded Spaniard took the lead in the sets after one break in the first set, but in the second Paul took the initiative. Alcaraz broke in the ninth game, then reached a tiebreak in which he fended off a set point in front of the American. One of the main favorites for the trophy will play in the semi-finals with one of Casper Ruud or Félix Auger-Aliassime. | BGNES
