Simple: With a 126 m.p.h. ace down the T. Next, Musetti struck a 122 m.p.h. serve, again down the center, taking command of the rally quickly enough to extract a Fritz forehand error. Two points later, leading 30-15, Musetti carved a forehand drop shot that literally brought Fritz to the ground. At 40-15, Musetti sliced his served wide—this one at 121 m.p.h.—and watched a forehand return float long. It was now 6:43 p.m. Musetti had won, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and will now play Novak Djokovic on Friday.
“For me, it’s kind of a magic day,” Musetti said following his quarterfinal victory. “I have to say after the birth of my son, I will put in the second position today for my career. Of course, for my career is the best day of my life.”
Those final three minutes had been preceded by three hours and 24 minutes of tremendous swings in momentum. Fritz was the favorite. He’d defeated Musetti here in straight sets two years ago and had played inspired tennis in the previous round, rallying from two sets to love down to beat fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev.
But on the two occasions in this match when Fritz had appeared ready to pull away, Musetti was the one who took control. The first came early. Fritz broke Musetti’s serve at 1-2 and was scarcely troubled through the duration of the set. Most notably, Fritz won a whopping 67 percent of his second serve points. Musetti at this stage appeared uncertain how he planned to win three sets worth of points.
And when Fritz captured Musetti’s serve to start the second set, signs pointed towards him snapping open the match. But Musetti suddenly woke up, broke Fritz at 15, and then commenced an inspired medley. Slices, drives, drop shots, lob volleys and more all surfaced over the next two sets. Musetti played a magnificent tiebreaker to even the match, then sprinted through the third.
