Lorenzo Musetti moved past Arthur Rinderknech 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 28 minutes at the Chengdu Open to reach his third semifinal of the season following Barcelona and Bastad.
Musetti earned his first break in the fourth game to win the first set 6-3. The Italian player broke twice in the first and ninth games to close out the second set 6-3.
“It was a step forward from yesterday. Yesterday’s match gave me a lot of confidence and today I started very well, breaking him immediately and that was the key to my win. A really solid performance from the baseline and I am really happy to be in the semifinals”, said Musetti.
Musetti set up a semifinal match against this year’s Wimbledon quarter finalist Roman Safiulin, who advanced to his first semifinal of the season as Jordan Thompson was forced to withdraw from the match after Safiulin had won the first set 7-6 (7-1).
Alexander Zverev came back from one set down to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7 7-5 6-2. Zverev has reached his seventh semifinal this season.
Kecmanovic earned an early break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Zverev broke straight back in the fifth game and held on his serve to draw level to 3-3. Kecmanovic broke for the second time in the 12th game to close out the first set 7-5.
Zverev broke in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. Kecmanovic broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Zverev earned his second break in the 11th game to seal the second set 7-5. The German player earned two breaks in the first and seventh games to close out the third set 6-2.
The German player is currently seventh in the ATP Race to Turin and is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Zverev will face Grigor Dimitrov, who cruised to a 6-4 6-1 win over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell. Dimitrov, who won the 400th match win of his career at ATP Tour leve, is chasing his first title since his triumph at the 2017 ATP Finals. Dimitrov broke three times in the 10th game of the first set and in the second and sixth games of the second set.
