Musetti out in Rio de Janeiro: loses to Jarry, 139 in the world

Bad defeat for Lorenzo Musetti in the first round of the 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. A heavy 6-4 6-1 against qualifier Nicolas Jarry, number 139 in the world. The campaign on South American soil is proving to be a flop: out in the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires against Juan Pablo Varillas (101st in the ranking, now 81) and even making his debut in Brazil. In both tournaments he was the number 3 seed, in South America precious points could have arrived and instead Musetti collected very little, in fact nothing. Only one match won, in Buenos Aires against Pedro Cachin in the round of 16.

What happens?

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Something is wrong, it’s obvious. Yielding Musetti, who does not make the weight of his status count against opponents with a much worse ranking. The number 18 in the world collapses in the second set, after the first is decided by the break in the seventh game. The batting turn lost in the third game of the second set represents the end of the game: from that moment Lorenzo completely exits the match. He finishes with 68% of points won with the first and 35% with the second, while Jarry loses only seven points in his games on serve. An unexpected domain, net of the feeling between the Chilean and clay. Worrying signs for Musetti: excluding the United Cup (in which he won four matches against players between 166 and 800 in the world and then lost to Tiafoe), Lorenzo took home one match out of four in this start to 2023, with three knockouts against tennis players outside the 100 in the world. What happens? The next tournament, in Santiago de Chile, is already becoming fundamental. He will be seeded number 1.