Lorenzo Musetti fights back from the brink to beat Alex de Minaur in thriller in Turin | ATP Tour

match report

Musetti fights to survive from cliff edge in Turin, beats De Minaur in thriller

Italy defeated Australia 7-5, 3-6, 7-5

November 11, 2025

Lorenzo Musetti was full of energy at the Nitto ATP Finals. The Italian earned his first win at the prestigious year-end event on Tuesday night when he defeated Alex De Minaur 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in a thriller in Turin.

Encouraged by the raucous home crowd, Musetti made a stunning comeback from 3-5 down in the final set, chasing Jimmy Connors’ score to 1-1, firmly keeping their hopes of promotion alive.

“My body was really struggling because Alex had increased the level and intensity and it was really hard for me to find a solution,” Musetti said. “But at the end of the day, with so much enthusiasm and passion for this game, I don’t know where to start, I started feeling better, playing better, and the support from the crowd was amazing. I have to thank them all.”

The 23-year-old is the player who lost to Taylor Fritz 30 hours ago. He buzzed around the baseline with renewed intent, breaking through De Minaur’s defense with heavy groundstrokes and delivering punches at crucial moments to galvanize the home support.

After falling in the second set, Musetti rediscovered his spark when it mattered most. He rallied 4-3, 30/30 from a stunning 31-shot standoff that featured a forehand that left both players flat on the court before launching a dramatic late charge. When de Minaur served, Musetti fought back to break, then used a wave of momentum and noise to seal one of his biggest wins of the season after 2 hours and 47 minutes.

Musetti will face PIF ATP No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in his third match on Thursday. The Spaniard is aiming to win the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, beating De Minaur and Fritz 2-0 this week. All four players still qualify for the semifinals.

“I’m a fighter,” Musetti added. “I have improved a lot mentally and I am pushing myself to the limit because I play against top players every game. The next game is against Carlos. I know how difficult it is, especially in this situation. I will enjoy and fight like today.”

Musetti has won each of the last three Lexus ATP meetings against de Minaur, and also claimed victories at this year’s ATP Clay Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Madrid. While those games helped Musetti reach the Monte Carlo final and Madrid semi-finals, Tuesday’s win marked his first hard-court win over a top-10 opponent in 2025.

Musetti competed for the first time in Turin and qualified with the best performance of his career. He reached finals in Monte Carlo, Chengdu and most recently Athens last week and has a 45-21 record this season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Before 2025, the Italian had never achieved more than 40 Tour-level victories in a year, and now he is far behind that milestone.

De Minaur’s best result of the season came at the ATP 500 event in Washington, where he won the trophy. The 26-year-old also reached the Rotterdam final this week with a 0-2 record.