Tennis: Musetti knocked out, Berrettini retires: bitter Paris for Italy

From the show with the n.1 Alexander Zverev to the elimination at the hands of the n.47 in the world. Lorenzo Musetti bids farewell to the Paris Masters with many regrets: because after his feat against the German, the Tuscan lost in three sets to the host - supported very warmly by the crowd at the Defance Arena - Luca Van Assche who, coming from the qualifiers, now finds himself in the quarter-finals and with the road now clear without the most fearsome champions (Novak Djokovic also left).

For Musetti, n.24, fresh from the super match against Zverev (who in his first outing as leader of the ranking had not taken the knockout well: "I feel like I am the only n.1 in history who has to justify himself"), the disappointment is great: two weeks ago he had overcome the Frenchman in Lyon, this time he had to give up after two hours and 38 minutes of a match closed in three sets with a score of 7-5 3-6 6-4. A match in which Musetti, after an uphill start, seemed to have brought the closing of the second set and the start of the decisive set back to his side. Van Assche kept his nerve by coming back from 0-30 in the second and fourth games, and Musetti didn't take advantage of two break points in the eighth.

From 4-4, the Frenchman takes control of the match and gives himself a very prestigious victory in front of the home crowd. In the first quarter of a tournament of this level, he will now face the Australian Rinky Hijikata (n. 83), a challenge that is certainly not prohibitive on paper. And for Italy the last 1000 of the season is made even more bitter by the exit of Matteo Berrettini too: the Roman has in fact given up playing the round of 16 match against Carlos Alcaraz. "The pain in my arm that I've been carrying for a few days doesn't allow me to do it - the words of the Italian -. In the next few days I will do all the necessary tests to better understand what it is. Thank you all for the support and affection you show me".

Berrettini was chasing the fourth quarter-final of the season in Paris after those achieved at Roland Garros and in the ATP 500 in Rio and Vienna. However, the Spaniard gets there without playing and equals his best result in the history of the tournament. For Italy at the end of the month there is the appointment with Davis (the finals scheduled in Bologna from 24 to 29 November): Berrettini is not among the squad of captain Volandri who chose Flavio Cobolli, Luciano Darderi, Musetti and Bolelli-Vavassori for the doubles. But there is also time to make changes, and the Roman who has always made an important contribution to the Azzurri in recent editions perhaps still has hope.