Italian earns 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win against Australian

Lorenzo Musetti is alive and kicking at the Nitto ATP Finals. The Italian earned his maiden victory at the prestigious year-end event on Tuesday night, when he battled past Alex de Minaur 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in a Turin thriller.

Buoyed by a raucous home crowd, Musetti mounted a stunning comeback from 3-5 down in the deciding set to move to 1–1 in the Jimmy Connors Group and keep his qualification hopes firmly intact. The 23-year-old sealed victory on his second match point when he blasted a forehand winner pass on the run before he celebrated with his team courtside.

"I was really struggling physically because Alex raised the level and intensity and I was really struggling to find the solution," Musetti said. "But at the end with a big heart and big passion for this game, I don't know from where, I started to feel better and play better and the support of the crowd is amazing. I have to thank them all."

The 23-year-old was transformed from the player who had fallen to Taylor Fritz just 30 hours earlier. He buzzed around the baseline with renewed intent, hammering through De Minaur’s defences with weighty ball-striking and punctuating key moments with fist pumps to whip up the home support.

After fading in the second set, Musetti rediscovered his spark when it mattered most. He recovered from losing a breathtaking 31-shot rally at 4–3, 30/30, one that featured a forehand tweener and left both players flat on the court, before mounting a dramatic late charge. When De Minaur served for the match, Musetti struck back to break, then rode a wave of momentum and noise to seal one of the biggest wins of his season after two hours and 47 minutes.

It All Adds Up

Musetti will face the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Carlos Alcaraz in his third match on Thursday. The Spaniard, aiming to win the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, is 2-0 this week, having beaten De Minaur and Fritz. All four players can still qualify for the semi-finals.

"I am a warrior," Musetti added. "I have improved a lot on the mental side and I am pushing myself to the limit because I am playing every match against the top players. The next one coming is against Carlos. I know how difficult it is, especially in these conditions. I will try to enjoy and fight like I did today."

Musetti has now won his past three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings against De Minaur, having also triumphed at ATP Masters 1000 events on clay in Monte-Carlo and Madrid this year. While those matches helped propel Musetti to a final in Monte-Carlo and the semi-finals in Madrid, Tuesday’s victory marked his first win over a Top 10 opponent on hard courts in 2025.

Competing in Turin for the first time, Musetti qualified on the back of a career-best campaign. He reached finals in Monte-Carlo, Chengdu and most recently, Athens last week, compiling a 45–21 record on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Before 2025, the Italian had never recorded more than 40 tour-level wins in a single year, a milestone he has now left well behind.

De Minaur’s best result this season came at the ATP 500 event in Washington, where he won the trophy. The 26-year-old, who also reached the final in Rotterdam, is 0-2 this week.