Rome (AFP)
The Swiss Stan Wawrinka fell on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament in Rome against a very young Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 249th in the world, in straight sets 6-0, 7-6.
Totally out of the way in the first set, the three-time Grand Slam winner, ranked 17th in ATP, woke up after trailing 2-0 in the second set, but it was already too late to regain control Match.
Musetti, who spent three qualifying rounds before he could play his first game in a Masters 1000 main draw, remained focused in the final tie-break which he largely dominated.
Wawrinka, 35, paid a start to the match completely upside down, where he multiplied unforced errors and missed gestures that seemed simple in front of the net.
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, had mentioned before the match an "impossible mission" for his young protégé.
“But Lorenzo likes this kind of situation, so he's very motivated,” he said.
Like Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka has given up on the American mini-tour (Cincinnati and US Open).
His only competition since resuming after a six-month break linked to the coronavirus pandemic was a Challenger tournament (2nd ATP division) won in Prague, already on clay.
© 2020 AFP