Lorenzo Musetti beat Luca Van Assche in Lyon, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 6-4, in the quarter-finals. Three hours thirty-three. Finished at 1:17am. According to the source, the longest match of his career in a best-of-three format. I watched it the way you watch a colleague.
Because late finishes, I know them. On Tuesday nights, when Court 4 is free, meaning never, we sometimes finish at 10:40pm, and the bubble (our indoor dome) is rented by the hour, so the third set is also played against the clock. The level in club league (interclubs, Belgium’s weekend team league) has gone way up, people don’t realise, and late-night fatigue, we manage it.
What interested me tactically was the changeover. Musetti went to the supervisor so he could use his phone. He had an alarm set for 1am for an anti-doping test. His line, reported by We Love Tennis: “I have an anti-doping alarm set for 1am.” That is pattern management. He thinks about the match, he thinks about afterwards, he tells the official. Me, on Sunday, my phone buzzed three times during my service games and I told no one. Result: double fault on the third buzz. I put that down to the strings, but it’s a whole package.
The second-set tie-break, lost, is the moment where you can let everything go. He doesn’t. That sixth set… no, third. I’m mixing it up, it’s late for me too.
Silly question, but if the match had gone on until 2am, would he have needed a second alarm?
In the semi-final he meets his good friend Flavio Cobolli. Playing a friend, I know that too: in mixed doubles I once played against my usual partner, and we didn’t speak until the bar.
Finishing at 1:17am and winning, that shot, I make it. Not every time, but I make it. Two practice sessions away, mind you.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
