Musetti marches into Madrid SFs

Lorenzo Musetti continued his impressive clay-court form Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where the Italian defeated Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

With his Top 10 debut already secured, the Italian is brimming with confidence, cruising into his second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. Musetti has won nine of his past 10 matches, only falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte-Carlo final.

“I probably didn’t show my best tennis, but the important thing of this match was to take the win no matter how I was playing,” Musetti said of his Madrid quarter-final win. “Of course I didn’t feel the ball like last night, but I knew it already stepping on court that today was a tough match, especially on the mental side, so I think I managed to stay there and stay focussed through the last point. Proud to be in the semis.”

SF’s are calling 📞@Lorenzo1Musetti cruises to a 6-4 6-3 victory over Diallo!@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/KJmWg7atKl

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 1, 2025

Musetti delivered a gritty performance, opting for a scrappy, tactical approach to advance past the less-experienced Canadian, who made the best use of his lucky loser spot in the main draw by reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Musetti adopted a deep return position, standing six to seven metres behind the baseline to handle the hefty serving of 6’8” (203cm) Diallo, who responded with an occasional serve-and-volley. But Musetti’s strategy paid off, as he won 77 per cent (20/26) of his second-serve return points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

The Italian found success by quickly neutralising points and using heavy topspin to target Diallo’s forehand, which drew 29 of his 38 unforced errors.

Musetti held his nerve when serving out the first set at 5-4, fending off four break points in that game alone before converting his second set point. That moment proved pivotal as Musetti used that momentum to break Diallo in the opening game of the second set. The two-time tour-level titlist rarely looked back, closing out the one-hour, 29-minute victory. 

Following his win over Diallo, Musetti leapfrogged Holger Rune for the No. 8 spot in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. He will next face Jack Draper, who secured a spot in the Top 5 by defeating Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Draper leads Musetti 3-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with all three meetings coming on indoor hard courts.

“I always say, ‘There is always a first time’, so hopefully it’s coming here,” Musetti said with a smile, discussing his quest to defeat Draper. “We are close friends. We grew up together playing, so it’s really nice to share this kind of stage. I know Jack is having a tremendous season so far, so I’m really happy for him. Tomorrow is going to be a fight, so hopefully I can put him in a difficult situation.”

Diallo, 23, saved three match points in the previous round to dispatch Grigor Dimitrov. At No. 53 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, the Canadian will make a vast improvement on his career-high No. 78 on Monday.