The top seeds of the Stuttgart Open are Ben Shelton (1st), Alexander Bublik (2nd), Frances Tiafoe (3rd), Lorenzo Musetti (4th), Jack Draper (5th), Jan-Lennard Struff (6th), and Roman Safiullin (7th).
With only the top four seeds receiving a bye to the Stuttgart Open second round, Jack Draper, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Roman Safiullin played in the first round. Struff defeated Flavio Cobolli, Draper relied on two tiebreaks to overcome Sebastian Ofner, and Roman Safiullin got knocked out by a Matteo Berrettini that was returning from injury.
Musetti’s Stuttgart Open Starts With A Tiebreak
Lorenzo Musetti’s Stuttgart Open started with a second-round clash with Dominik Koepfer. Ranked 65th on the ATP rankings, Koepfer is 35 places below Musetti. The highest ranking the German has ever attained in his career is still 19 places below Musetti’s current ranking.
Both players started the first set of their Stuttgart Open clash at the top of their games, both scoring 24 points on their respective serves. However, Koepfer surrendered more points to Musetti’s return of serve than Musetti did.
Both players were equally as ferocious at the net, winning 11 points each. However, Lorenzo Musetti managed to create four break points out of Koepfer’s serve while ensuring he didn’t face a single break point on his serve. After a tightly contested set, the pair needed a tiebreak to decide the set. Koepfer triumphed in a 20-points tiebreak.
Lorenzo Musetti Equalizes In 2nd Set
The first set’s result seemed to galvanize the world No. 65. In the second set, Koepfer tried to steal a march into the Stuttgart Open third round by dominating Lorenzo Musetti in most of the stats collected, with the Stuttgart crowd cheering the home favorite on.
Koepfer won 21 points on his first serve while stealing seven off Musetti’s. The German also smashed 16 winners past the Italian, dominating him at the net with 12 points to Musetti’s nine. With advancement in the Stuttgart Open seeming to fade away from Lorenzo Musetti’s grasp, the Italian dragged the clash to a second-set tiebreak, winning 7-5.
Musetti Wins An Exchange Of Breakpoints
The second set was different for Lorenzo Musetti than the earlier two. He was more ferocious on his first serve, winning 17 of 25, with a better win percentage than the German.
The world No. 30 stepped up his game at the net. He won 10 points at the net, two more than Koepfer’s. Lorenzo Musetti also smashed 15 winners past Koepfer, seven more than the German managed.
Both players exchanged breakpoints with Musetti winning two of the two breakpoints he created on Koepfer’s serve while the German managed one of the three he created on Musetti’s serve. The single breakpoint gave Musetti the advantage to win the deciding set 6-3. The Italian’s gritty win sends him into the third round.
Note:
Lorenzo Musetti is the highest-ranked Italian on the ATP rankings behind Jannik Sinner. The Stuttgart Open would’ve featured French Open finalist, Alexander Zverev after his name was released as the top seed, but the German withdrew from the tournament due to fatigue.
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