Lorenzo Musetti surrenders in the semi-final in Chengdu and loses to Roman Safiullin, missing the opportunity to challenge one of Zverev or Dimitrov in tomorrow’s final. Safiullin is intelligent and cynical, he puts his mark on all the key moments of a match in which the Russian serves very well and takes advantage of Musetti’s errors in service. He finishes 6-3 6-4 for Roman.
the match
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At the beginning everything flows quickly and on purpose, but everything changes in the eighth game, where the Russian’s merits are more than Lorenzo’s demerits. There are two perfect forehands from Roman who turns the game on its head, closing thanks to an error from Musetti who sends a forehand into the middle of the net. In the second set Safiullin continues to be a serving machine, not allowing the Italian any opportunities: Musetti clings to the first set to hold serve in the fifth game, but collapses in the following round of service, when from 30-0 he is overcome by Safiullin , who scores 4 consecutive points, also taking advantage of a double fault and a missed backhand from Lorenzo. The first really hard-fought game on Roman’s serve is the eighth, with the Russian not granting break points, but managing to resolve the issue on the fifth opportunity to close the game. Lorenzo serves to defend the match and manages to prolong it, but in the following game Safiullin closes without conceding any points to the blue, with a 6-3 6-4 that has never been questioned.