Lorenzo Musetti reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing ATP 500 and earned valuable points in the Race for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, but he could not beat young American star Learner Tien despite winning the first set. The Italian ace suffered pain in his left glute during the second set and this issue affected his performance more and more as the minutes went by, forcing him to surrender during the fourth game of the third set.
The feeling is that the world number 9 did not want to risk making the situation worse, having still had a good run in the Chinese capital and having to participate in the Shanghai Masters 1000 in a few days (he will have a bye in the first round).
It's no secret that Lorenzo wants to qualify for the most prestigious ATP event on the calendar and he has a very good chance right now, as he has had consistent results for most of this season and Jack Draper has already announced that he will no longer play official tournaments this season (due to an arm injury).
ADVERTISEMENT
Musetti explains his injury
When he decided to retire during the match against Tien, Musetti received boos of disapproval from Chinese fans who have not forgotten the bad episode of a few days ago (although the Italian player has apologized on several occasions).
"I'm very sorry because I had played an excellent first set against a very dangerous opponent" explained the ace from Carrara. "I was managing the match in the best way and I'm disappointed with how the clash ended, I definitely had a good chance to reach the semifinals and earn more points. I started to feel discomfort in my left leg at the beginning of the second set and I started to play more passively, then the extent of the problem worsened in the following games. I don't think it's a serious injury and I hope to recover in time for the Shanghai tournament."
ADVERTISEMENT
Lorenzo will make his debut in the penultimate Masters 1000 of the season on Friday or Saturday (he will face Francisco Comesana or a qualifier).
