By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Frances Tiafoe won six straight points closing a 6-4, 7-6(2) triumph over Spanish wild card Carlos Alcaraz to set up a second-round Barcelona clash vs. Diego Schwartzman.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Patience is a prerequisite for clay-court success.
A finishing touch helps too.
More: Musetti On Evolution From Rafa Fan to Roger Fan
Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti both showed creative closing power in Barcelona today.
Tiafoe tore through five of the first six games and closed winning six straight points in the tie breaker subduing Spanish wild card Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 7-6(2) to reach the Barcelona Open Bank Sabadell second round.
It was a roller-coaster ride of a match with Tiafoe packaging a pair of love holds around a couple of breaks bursting out to a 5-1 lead. Alcaraz closed the gap to 4-5.
Serving for the set again, Tiafoe saw three more set points come and go before finally closing the door on his fifth set point when Alcaraz slightly shanked a forehand. Tiafoe took the 44-minute opener winning eight of 12 points played on the Spanish teenager's second serve.
The youngest man ranked inside the ATP Top 200, hit a barrage of high, heavy topspin helped him earn triple break point. The 17-year-old Alcaraz pulled the string on a pristine drop shot winner breaking at love for a 2-0 second-set lead.
Empowered by his recent run to the Marbella semifinals, Alcaraz extended the advantage to 4-1 bothering the world No. 65 with the shoulder-high bounce of his shots.
Tiafoe answered with some terrific running forehands before hammering a two-handed backhand return down the line breaking back in the seventh game.
The teenager went up 2-1 in the tie breaker before Tiafoe turned it up and drew a flurry of errors. Alcaraz hit his second double fault to hand his opponent a fistful of match points. Tiafoe needed just one attacking behind a backhand return, the man from Maryland closed in one hour, 43 minutes.
Tiafoe will face fourth-seeded Diego Schwartzman next.
Earlier, 17-year-old Lorenzo Musetti showed fine feel and shotmaking flair roaring through 12 consecutive points to close a 6-4, 6-3 conquest of 39-year-old Feliciano Lopez.
In the fifth game, Lopez made his moving sprinting up to a drop shot and knocking off a lunging volley for double break point. The Madrid tournament director rapped a return right back into the body rattling out the break for 3-2.
The Musetti one-handed backhand is a wondrous weapon of shifting spin. The teenager dive-bombed a topspin backhand right near the baseline breaking back in the sixth game.
Anticipation and 19-year-old legs helped Musetti get off the mark quickly from near the baseline and run down a Lopez drop shot. Though the Spaniard won that point with a volley, the teenager's speed may have spooked him a bit. Lopez, trying to be too fine with a forehand drop shot, caught the top of the tape instead to face set point in the 10th game.
In an all-court point that featured two net cords, Musetti came forward for a volley drawing an error to close in 38 minutes. The world No. 87 played a cleaner set. Rattling mis-hits off the Spaniard's racquet at times, Musetti made only four unforced errors compared to 12 for Lopez.
Court sense, quickness and the fine touch of a tattoo artist make Musetti a blast to watch on dirt. In this match, he sliced off both wings, hit some exquisite drop shots and carved out a slick angled forehand volley streaking through successive love holds for 4-3.
Flicking a low backhand pass, Musetti caught a break when his mis-hit backhand return fell in for triple break point. Both men were grunting with more fervor as Musetti played higher, heavier forehands down the line drawing the error for the crucial break for 5-3.
A smooth backhand dropper was a fitting final close for Musetti, who wrapped up a 69-minute win. Next up for Musetti is a fascinating second-round showdown vs. 10th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is playing his second tournament with new coach Toni Nadal in his corner.
Aussie Jordan Thompson saved match points out-dueling Richard Gasquet 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3). Thompson, who hit 10 aces, serve-and-volleyed with confidence on crucial points to improve to 6-5 on the season. Thompson will face sixth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in round two.