Steve Johnson says it is a pity that Lorenzo Musetti missed out on certain stuff that ATP Finals participants experience, while that could have been avoided had Novak Djokovic announced his decision a week earlier.
Following the conclusion of the Paris Masters, there was only one Turin spot left for grabs and it came down to either Musetti or Felix Auger-Aliassime. However, there was always a possibility that both would make the ATP Finals since Djokovic refused to make any guarantees that he would go to the season-ending tournament.
After Musetti lost to Djokovic in the Athens final, the Italian lost the final Turin spot to Auger-Aliassime. However, the 23-year-old still made his ATP Finals debut on Monday after Djokovic told him at the net in Athens that he would not compete at the tournament.
ADVERTISEMENT
Johnson: Musetti missed out on being in the ATP Finals photos, all of that pre-week stuff
"Novak could do whatever he wants, but it does I feel like it is a little bit of a bummer for Lorenzo cuz like, you know, first finals he makes and he's like in none of the photos, like none of the pre-week stuff, like it's kind of a bummer. I think it's brutal that he had to get there and was in none of the the pre-stuff but yeah next year they've changed that rule so it ends in Paris but he did it tried to do it the hard way qualify and came up a little short but ultimately gets in," Johnson said on the Nothing Major Show.
ADVERTISEMENT
After playing four long matches in Athens and flying quickly to Turin, Musetti looked tired during his first-ever ATP Finals match and got ousted 3-6 4-6 by Taylor Fritz. The home star will try to clinch his maiden ATP Finals win when he takes on Alex de Minaur in his second match. The Italian has a 3-1 head-to-head against de Minaur.
