Dan Evans: British number one squanders four match points in defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in Cagliari

ByEurosport

Published 08/04/2021 at 17:08 GMT

Dan Evans fell to 19-year-old Musetti, who is the youngest player in the top 100 of the ATP rankings. The Italian now has 12 tour-level victories with seven of them coming against top 35 players. "The secret for me is not to think about [their Top 35 Ranking], to just play them like other opponents," Musetti said post-match. "I try to play my game… and try to play as good as I can."

Dan Evans

Image credit: Getty Images

British number one Dan Evans squandered four match points as he was knocked out of the Sardegna Open in Cagliari by Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(8).

The world number 90 won the match in two hours and ten minutes after saving four match points in a breathless deciding tie-break.

Musetti will face either Laslo Djere or John Millman in the quarter finals.

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Musetti raced to a 6-1 opening set before Evans began to play extremely aggressively at the net, starting close to the service box when returning Musetti's serve.

It paid off as he stormed to a 6-1 set in 33 minutes and forced a decider which went to a dramatic tie-break.

Musetti went 3-6 and 7-8 down, but he fought back twice to seal his place in the quarter-finals on his second match point with a forehand drop shot winner.

"It was really tough. I was 3-6 down in the tie-break and he was playing good, always going to the net and always aggressive," Musetti said on-court afterwards.

"I tried to stay calm and tried to play each point. That is what I did and it worked, so I am really happy and really proud of myself with this win."