Lorenzo Musetti knows he has a huge chance at the Shanghai Masters 1000, although these courts certainly do not represent the surface where he can express his best tennis. The Italian star won the derby against his compatriot Luciano Darderi today and qualified for the round of 16 in the penultimate Masters 1000 of the season, a result that allows him to continue chasing his dream, having as his main goal a place at the Nitto ATP Finals scheduled in Turin in November.
Without Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in this tournament, the world number 9 can really dream of achieving a very prestigious result and does not want to set limits at this time. He is going through the best season of his entire career and has already won 19 matches in Masters 1000 tournaments, occupying the second position in this special ranking behind only Carlitos.
His next opponent in Shanghai will be Canadian ace Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is continuing to play his best tennis after reaching the semifinals at the US Open and is also chasing the Nitto ATP Finals. Lorenzo leads 4-3 in the h2h record and has prevailed in the last two clashes, including the match that took place at the Miami Open this year.
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Musetti opens up on Sinner
After beating his compatriot Darderi at the end of a truly electrifying battle, Musetti wanted to reassure fans about the condition of his friend Sinner who was forced to retire due to cramps yesterday.
"I haven't heard from Jannik since yesterday's retirement, but I met his coach Simone Vagnozzi for breakfast this morning and he didn't seem worried at all" said the number 8 seed. "He told me that Sinner had already left, so I imagine we will see him in action again at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia and then at the Vienna ATP 500" he added.
Musetti and Sinner will also try to lead Italy to their third triumph in a row at the Davis Cup Finals, which will be staged in Bologna in November.
