Matteo Berrettini is set to tackle Davis Cup team-mate Lorenzo Musetti in an all-Italian Napoli Cup final on Sunday after defying advice to pull out with a foot injury.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini beat American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 at the hard court event, while Musetti came through 6-3 6-4 against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
Providing Berrettini is healthy to participate in the final, the tournament looks set to deliver a crowd-pleasing trophy match, but it was touch and go whether the Rome native would get through the McDonald match.
"I don't even know how I did it," Berrettini said. "I wasn't feeling very good. I asked for the physio because my foot was hurting. It happened so many times in my career that I had to fight through so many things, not just thinking about the tennis ball."
He added, quoted by the ATP: "I didn't want to retire. My team told me, 'I think you should stop'. But I tried and I found a way."
Berrettini and Musetti have never gone head-to-head before. Berrettini has won two titles this year, both on grass, in Stuttgart and at London's Queen's Club, while 20-year-old Musetti scooped his maiden ATP title on clay in Hamburg.
At the European Open in Antwerp, Sunday's final will see American Sebastian Korda tackle Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, in a battle of two in-form players.
Korda was runner-up last week in Gijon, while Auger-Aliassime took the title in Florence, adding to his Rotterdam triumph from February.
Korda wrestled his way past a recently resurgent Dominic Thiem, scraping a 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory, before Auger-Aliassime was given a mighty battle by veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet, winning through in two tight sets, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) his margin.
Like Berrettini and Auger-Aliassime, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas has a third title of the year in his sights this weekend.
Tsitsipas swept through to the final of the Stockholm Open with a 6-2 6-2 win over Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori, setting up a clash with 19-year-old Danish player Holger Rune.
For Rune, there was no such straightforward path into the final as Alex de Minaur pushed him all the way, with the Australian eventually edged out 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 after two hours and 50 minutes.
French Open day six: Norrie out as Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sabalenka march on
British interest in singles at the French Open ended after Cameron Norrie lost meekly to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round, castigating his attitude and performance in a 6-1 6-2 6-4 defeat.
Novak Djokovic survived the longest three-set match of his grand slam career, battling past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in three hours and 36 minutes, while Carlos Alcaraz had a much easier time against Denis Shapovalov.
In the women’s event, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka reached round four for the first time but third seed Jessica Pegula is out.
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Naomi Osaka and boyfriend Cordae are expecting a girl.
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A disastrous first week for the home country, who began with 28 players in the main singles draws.
Fritz earns Mac approval
Not surprisingly, Taylor Fritz’s baiting of the French crowd in his late-night win over Arthur Rinderknech was right up John McEnroe’s street. “I like to see a little confrontation,” said Eurosport pundit McEnroe. The booing was so loud that the on-court interview was limited to one question.
China return
The WTA announced earlier this year that it would be ending its boycott of China over the Peng Shuai affair. Details of the autumn calendar have now been announced, with seven tournaments taking place in the country, including the WTA Finals in Shenzhen.
Fallen seeds
Men: Andrey Rublev (7), Hubert Hurkacz (13), Cameron Norrie (14), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29).
Women: Jessica Pegula (3), Anastasia Potapova (24), Irina-Camelia Begu (27).
Who’s up next?
The boot will be on the other foot for 19-year-old Coco Gauff when she takes on Russian Mirra Andreeva, three years her junior, in the third round on Saturday. Defending champion Iga Swiatek meets Wang Xinyu of China while fourth seed Elena Rybakina plays Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo. The night session again features a men’s match – Alexander Zverev up against Frances Tiafoe – while Casper Ruud and Holger Rune are also in action.
Rafael Nadal undergoes surgery in bid to overcome troublesome hip injury
Rafael Nadal underwent surgery on Friday evening in a bid to discover the extent of his hip problem.
The 22-time grand slam champion only expected to be out for six to eight weeks with the injury he suffered at the Australian Open in January but nearly five months on he has not recovered.
Nadal was forced to miss the French Open for the first time in nearly two decades having admitted his team had not been able to find a solution to the issue.
The Spaniard, who turns 37 on Saturday, announced last month that he would be taking a break, potentially for the rest of the season, before what he expects to be farewell tour next year.
Nadal’s representatives revealed the surgical intervention on Friday, with the 14-time French Open champion undergoing an arthroscopic investigation on his left psoas muscle in Barcelona.
The results are expected to be announced on Saturday morning.
Cameron Norrie criticised his own attitude and performance after his French Open campaign ended with a straight-sets loss to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.
It is the third year in a row the British number one has fallen in the last 32, and he only managed to mount any real challenge in the third set before going down 6-1 6-2 6-4.
There is certainly no disgrace in losing to 21-year-old Musetti, who is ranked only five places below Norrie and whose best surface is clay, but the 14th seed was hugely disappointed by the manner of what is one of his worst grand slam losses in terms of scoreline.
The result, meanwhile, brings an end to British singles hopes at a tournament where only three players even made the start line.
“I came out very flat and I’m disappointed with the attitude in the first couple of sets,” said a very downbeat Norrie.
“It was very, very slow conditions, very heavy, and I was not prepared for it to be that slow. For me, I can play bad and everything, but I was just very flat and disappointed to have a performance like that.
“The first two sets he didn’t really do too much and he was up two sets to love. For a player like myself, I can’t afford to give that much of an edge.
“There is no excuses to play the level that I did today. I missed so many easy short balls and I lost so many points within a couple of shots where usually I can win a lot of those ones.
“I didn’t come prepared. I was changing rackets throughout the match. It was a bit colder today but I’m good enough to not let that bother me.”
Norrie lost to Musetti in Barcelona recently but spoke positively after his second-round victory over Lucas Pouille about what he had learned from that clash.
He was immediately on the back foot, though, dropping serve in the opening game against the stylish Italian and swiftly losing the opening set.
The second was no better, with Musetti too often finding an answer to everything Norrie could throw at him, and the 17th seed went a break up early in the third as well.
Norrie was staring at his worst slam loss but he at least made a fist of it, breaking Musetti, who had lost from two sets up on both of his previous appearances at Roland Garros, back and creating two chances to break for 5-3.
The Italian held firm, though, and drilled a forehand past Norrie to break again before serving out the victory.
Norrie is known for a relentless work ethic and never-say-die attitude so to hear him talk about a lack of preparation and unwillingness to stay in points is certainly concerning.
The 27-year-old has maintained a relentless schedule to help him get to and then stay at the top of the game so it would be understandable if he felt mentally fatigued, but he dismissed the suggestion.
“I’ve played a lot of matches,” he said. “I think I can use that to my advantage. I’ve played more matches maybe than anyone else on the tour in the last maybe three years. I can say that’s a good thing.
“And then even going into this match today, I was thinking I’ve won more matches than Musetti this year, I’ve won bigger matches than him. I think I’m playing better than him on the clay. I was really confident going into it.”
Norrie will now head back to London and turn his attention to the grass-court swing a year on from his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals.
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