17 September,2020 07:24 AM IST | Rome | AFP
Italy's Jannik Sinner (left) and Lorenzo Musetti. pic/AFP
Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka crashed out of the Italian Open in the first round on Tuesday after a humiliating defeat to teenager Lorenzo Musetti, 18, of Italy, while Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas too exited with a second round defeat to home hope Jannik Sinner, 19. The three-time Grand Slam winner, the 10th seed in Rome, lost 0-6, 6-7 (7/2) to a player ranked 249th in the world. Wawrinka, at 35 the oldest player in the tournament, fought back after trailing 0-2 in the second set, but it was already too late to regain control.
Musetti had only played one tour-level match before facing the former World No. 3 here, ousting Wawrinka after one hour and 24 minutes. "I have seen him play on television and I know he is a very tough player," said Musetti, who will next meet Kei Nishikori in the second round. "I'm going to enjoy the victory before I start thinking about my match against Nishikori," he added.
Wawrinka and Tsitsipas
Musetti, the youngest player in the table, was born in 2002, the year Wawrinka took his first steps on the professional circuit. His coach, Simone Tartarini said before the match it was an "impossible mission" for his young protege. "But Lorenzo likes this kind of situation, so he's very motivated," he said. On Wednesday, third seed Tsitsipas, the recipient of a first round bye, crashed 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 to 81st-ranked Sinner at Foro Italico.
Meanwhile, favourite Novak Djokovic, who was defaulted from the US Open for accidentally hurting a line judge, began on a winning note. He beat 87th-ranked Italian Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-2.
Among the women, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza dispatched American Sloane Stephens in straight sets with Russian Svetlana Kuznestova battling through for her first win since the restart of tennis. Muguruza won 6-3, 6-3, while Kuznetsova beat American Bernarda Pera 3-6, 7-6), 6-3.
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