Hamburg, Jul 26 (BUS): It will be hard to forget the feelings of raising his first trophy at Tour level for 20-year-old Italian Lorenzo Mossetti, who overcame crippled preparations and survived a rollercoaster ride at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg.
Mussetti lost his last six matches on the tour before the European Open in Hamburg and arrived in the German port city without a racket bag, Reuters reported.
Although he managed to arrange his playing equipment in time for the tournament, he then suffered a bout of food poisoning.
“I got here… With all the hits, one of my[bags]got lost. (It was) the ones with the racquets in, so I was a little worried about how I was going to play it,” Mussetti told the ATP Tour after his win on Sunday.
“The night before the matches started, I vomited all night. I had food poisoning, so I felt a little sick. I didn’t expect to go as far as I came, so I am glad my luck turned around in this tournament.”
He was on the verge of losing his seventh in a row in the opening round to Serbian Dusan Lajovic, but he showed great flexibility in saving two match points before achieving his first victory at the level of the tour since May.
Musseti was playing his first tournament final on Sunday while his opponent – 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz – entered the competition having won all five finals of the round he reached.
The Italian dropped five championship points in the second set but found the mental strength to defeat Alcaraz, who on Monday became the youngest player to break into the world’s top five since Rafa Nadal in 2005, 6-4 6-7 (6) 6. 4 in a thriller.
“It’s a dream for me,” said Mussetti, who climbed to 31st in his career. “Obviously, I’ve always dreamed of winning the title and never had any chances before. It’s my first time, so I have no words to describe how it feels.”
“The feelings I had today, I will stay in my heart and head for a long time.”