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Wawrinka crashes out of Rome to Italian teenager

tennis15 September 2020 22:25| © AFP
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Lorenzo Musetti © Getty Images

Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka crashed out of the Italian Open in the first round on Tuesday after a humiliating defeat to 18-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

The three-time Grand Slam winner, the 10th seed in Rome, lost 6-0, 7-6 (7/2) against a player ranked 249th in the world.


Wawrinka, at 35 the oldest player in the tournament, fought back after trailing 2-0 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 number three in Rome, 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."

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.

Like Rafael Nadal, Wawrinka has given up on the American hard court tour at Cincinnati and the US Open.

His only competition since resuming after a six-month hiatus linked to the coronavirus pandemic was a Challenger tournament on clay in Prague.

The Rome tournament is a tune-up for Roland Garros from 27 September.

Favourites Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will begin their campaigns on Wednesday.

Nadal, after six months without official matches, will take on compatriot Pablo Carreno, a recent semi-finalist of the US Open.

Djokovic takes on 87th-ranked Italian Salvatore Caruso and Halep playing Italian Jasmine Paolini, ranked 99th.

Elsehwere US Open quarterfinalist Andrey Rublev, eased past Argentine qualifier Facundo Bagnis 6-4, 6-4 and next meets Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

Rublev hit 25 winners for his 20th match win of the season, winning two ATP Tour titles this year in Qatar and Adelaide before the season was suspended.

Canadians Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov both advanced. Shapovalov, the 12th seed, beat Argentine Guido Pella 6-2, 6-3 with 13th-seed Raonic ousting France's Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

Italy's Marco Cecchinato, a semifinalist in Roland Garros two years ago, battled past Britain's Kyle Edmund 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 and next meets Serb Filip Krajinovic.

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