Florence (Italy), (Asian independent) Lorenzo Musetti put on a show for his home fans on Thursday at the Firenze Open, where the Italian dispatched Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-0 in the second-round clash, here.
The third seed displayed confidence in all facets of his game, delighting a vocal home crowd with an array of classy winners to close out victory against Zapata Miralles in just 69 minutes at the indoor ATP 250 event.
Musetti hit 21 winners to the Spaniard’s eight in the pair’s first tour-level meeting. With the win, the Italian is into his sixth tour-level quarter-final of the season and his third on indoor hard courts (after Rotterdam and Sofia).
The 20-year-old, whose excellent season has also included his maiden ATP Tour title in Hamburg, has already qualified to compete at November’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan for the second consecutive year.
Musetti will meet Mackenzie McDonald in the quarter-finals in Florence after the American downed another Next Gen ATP Italian, Francesco Passaro, 6-4, 7-5. The No 79-ranked McDonald broke Passaro’s serve twice in each set to clinch a 95-minute win and reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season.
Brandon Nakashima joined his countrymen McDonald and JJ Wolf in the last eight with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Altug Celikbilek.
The San Diego champion Nakashima will take on top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Oscar Otte next as he looks to join Musetti in reaching the Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. The 21-year-old is currently sixth in the ATP Live Race To Milan.
