Taylor Fritz flattens Lorenzo Musetti to open ATP Finals in style
It took just under two hours for Taylor Fritz to remind everyone why he’s a serious threat at the business end of the season.
On a crisp Monday afternoon inside Turin’s Inalpi Arena, the American came in rested, razor-sharp, and completely unfazed by the home-court energy swirling around late entry Lorenzo Musetti.
The result was a clinical 6-3, 6-4 victory that not only handed Fritz his first win of this year’s ATP Finals, but also served notice that last year’s finalist isn’t just here to make up the numbers.
While Musetti was still licking his wounds from a tough Athens final against Novak Djokovic on Saturday night, Fritz had been quietly acclimating to the fast-paced indoor courts of Turin for a full week.
That contrast showed early and often. Musetti, who replaced Djokovic after the former World No. 1 withdrew due to a shoulder issue, looked undercooked. His usual flair flickered in moments. A deft drop shot here, a lunging backhand pass there. But it never caught fire.
Fritz, on the other hand, played like a man who’d studied every angle of the court.
He hugged the baseline, took the ball early, and smothered Musetti with flat, penetrating strokes that barely gave the Italian a moment to settle. Even when the scoreboard hinted at danger, like during early break points or a wobble at 5-4 in the second set, Fritz served his way out with authority.
“I’m really happy with how I played,” Fritz said post-match, exuding the calm of a man who’d done his homework. “There were some tough moments early on, but I served my way out of them. In the second set, I felt I had a lot of chances to break, and even though I didn’t take them all, I stayed composed and got the job done.”
That composure translated to a performance rating of 9.20—well above his 2025 Tour average—in what was the American’s first meeting with Musetti this year and their seventh overall.
With the win, Fritz evens their head-to-head at 3-3 and opens his campaign in the Jimmy Connors group with a clean 1-0 record. He’ll next face Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur, both of whom have their own storylines unfolding in this high-stakes round-robin showdown.
