French Open: Musetti rides new-found grit into third round, Rune advances in five sets

Paris, May 30 (IANS) Italian star Lorenzo Musetti passed his first test at the French Open this year on Friday as he rallied from a set and a break down to move past Mariano Navone into the fourth round and match his best result at the clay-court major. Musetti defeated Navone 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to move into the Round of 16. 

The eighth-seeded Italian trailed Navone 4-6, 0-2 but fought back brilliantly to beat the Argentine, who has reached tour-level finals on clay in Rio de Janeiro and Bucharest.

However, this season, the 23-year-old Musetti is playing with a newfound grit and resilience. The 2024 Olympic bronze medallist started to find his range off the backhand wing and used his slice and heavy forehand to force Navone out of his comfort zone and turn the tables in hot conditions.

After committing 19 unforced errors in the first set, Musetti tightened up, hitting 31 across the next three sets to advance to the fourth round after three hours and 28 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

"It was completely different conditions from the past two matches. The ball was bouncing not that high, and today at the beginning, I was a bit surprised and physically I could not find my best shape," Musetti was quoted as saying by ATP Tour.

"But then after I started to feel better and at the end, I was improving my game, so I am happy and really proud of my comeback," he added.

Musetti, who did not drop a set in his opening two wins against Yannick Hanfmann and Daniel Elahi Galan, has been in red-hot form on clay since the Olympics last July, which were held in Paris. The No. 7 in the ATP Rankings advanced to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title match in Monte Carlo in April and then reached the semifinals in Madrid and Rome.

Now 17-3 on clay in 2025, the Italian will aim to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time when he takes on 10th seed Holger Rune.

Musetti has suffered Roland Garros heartbreak in the past, notably on debut in 2021 when he led Novak Djokovic by two sets to love before falling. However, this is a new Musetti, and the 23-year-old demonstrated his newfound confidence by flexing his muscles in celebration after improving to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Navone.

On Court Philippe-Chatrier, Rune rallied back from the brink to overcome Frenchman Quentin Halys 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the fourth round in Paris for the fourth consecutive year.

The 22-year-old Dane was two points from defeat when serving at 4-5, 15/30 in the fourth set, but upped the aggression and intensity from that moment, winning nine of the final 11 games. Rune holds a 7-3 fifth-set record at majors.

The World No. 10 is a two-time quarter-finalist in the French capital and is just the ninth man in the Open Era to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros in all of his first four appearances, joining champions Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander, and Bjorn Borg.

Rune, who lifted the title on clay at the ATP 500 in Barcelona in April, will take a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead into his meeting with Musetti.

Picture Courtesy: IANS