"I managed to defeat one, there's another one," says Mpetshi Perricard after beating his nemesis Musetti
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard managed to break the curse and dominated Lorenzo Musetti for the first time in his career.
Mpetshi Perricard can finally savor the moment. It took until the fifth encounter against Musetti for the Frenchman to overcome the Italian. In the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament in Brussels, the world No. 37 won in two sets (6-4, 7-6 in 1h22), capitalizing on his opponent's two consecutive double faults at 8-7 in the second set tie-break.
The main person involved reacted to his success in the mixed zone before challenging the always formidable Jiri Lehecka this Saturday for a spot in the final in the Belgian capital.
"It feels good, he was my nemesis. I have another one, Jordan Thompson (5-0 for the Australian in their encounters). I managed to defeat one, now there's another one.
It was a big match from start to finish. Lorenzo (Musetti) is a very complicated player to face. He's a very good player, capable of incredible passing shots, as we saw on the match point. It was very close, I couldn't break him in the second set. He had significantly increased his first serve percentage. It was very tight.
I'm very proud of this victory. I stayed calm, that's the most important thing. If there had been a third set, I think I would have been ready. At one point I thought I had finished the match, but he hit a passing shot right behind the net. I couldn't do anything else. Hats off to him for making such a point at that moment in the match, it wasn't easy for me after that point.
Five semifinals on the tour? I'm starting to get old! It certainly always feels good. I would like and hope to make more. This year, I've only been stopped in the semifinals. I hope to go further.
It will be a good test tomorrow (Saturday), Lehecka is a very good player. He's top 30, top 25, I don't know. He's a player who was very consistent last year before his injury, it's going to be a very interesting match," assured Mpetshi Perricard for Jeu, Set et Podcast.
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