Aussie Alex de Minaur is about to take on Italian Lorenzo Musetti in a clash of rising stars at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Saturday. The match will be Musetti's first-ever Masters 1000 semifinal appearance after dispatching Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets, in which he dropped the first.
As for de Minaur, his ticket to the semis was ushered by a two-set victory, blanking Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.
Each player has experienced different paths to this point, but each experience has the potential to offer advantages. Musetti's stiff competition and the overcoming of three-time Monte-Carlo champion Tsitsipas work in his favor. In contrast, de Minaur's rested and fantastic play from day one works in his favor.
On Saturday, one of them will face the winner of the first semifinal match between Carlos Alcaraz, who survived his quarterfinals tilt, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Lorenzo Musetti and Alex de Minaur arrive at same landing spot in the Monte-Carlo Masters
Monte-Carlo has certainly given Musetti some trouble. In four matches, the world No. 16 has dropped a set in three. In the rounds of 64 and 32, Musetti was forced to battle back after dropping the first set. It was not until the round of 16 that he could finally come out victorious in straight sets against fellow countryman Matteo Berrettini, who scored an upset win earlier in the week over Alexander Zverev.
But his three-set victory over Tsitsipas should inject the most confidence in him as he prepares for de Minaur. On top of that, it would appear that Monte-Carlo has accumulated a significant crowd of Italian fans, so Musetti also has that going for him.
In de Minaur's case, he hasn't faced Musetti's struggles; it's been quite the opposite for the No. 10-ranked Aussie. Aside from his opening match, where he dropped the first set, de Minaur has easily sailed through the event.
Bouncing Danill Medvedev 6-2, 6-2 without much of a fight was a surprise. Another straight-sets win over Dimitrov followed—de Minaur didn't give up one game in 45 minutes. It was a stunner and even more surprising than his win over Medvedev.
Tested versus untested
Musetti walks into the semifinals tested and trialed, while conversely, de Minaur strolls in and hopes to break a sweat. Hopefully, Musetti can give that to him. Neither player has lifted a trophy this year, but that could change for one party over the next two days. One thing that is sure to change is who will overtake the other in their head-to-head, which presently stands at 1-1.