World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas thrashed qualifier Lorenzo Musetti to reach the Acapulco final but after the match showed his class and spoke positively of the rising Italian star. Musetti, who won three qualifying matches to earn an Acapulco main draw debut, had his dream campaign end on Friday in the semifinal following a 6-1 6-3 loss to No.

1 seed Tsitsipas. The two players were tied at one game apiece after the opening two games before Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back breaks and won five games in a row to win the opener. Musetti performed much better in the second set as the two players were tied at three games apiece, before Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back breaks to seal the win.

“Matches like this are really important and I’m happy to be playing well,” said Tsitsipas, per the ATP website. “Acapulco has been treating me really well and the fans have been giving me love and support.

We’ll definitely see a lot from Lorenzo in the future, he has a wonderful one-handed backhand and creates lots of opportunities. He showed his level this week.”

Musetti couldn’t stun Tsitsipas

Musetti handed a straight-set defeat to 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov to set up a Tsitsipas clash.

“It’s incredible really. I didn’t expect this,” Musetti said after stunning DImitrov. “Today I think I played the best match in my life. Grigor is an incredible opponent, a great fighter. Even today, I had a lot of match points and was really difficult for my coach.”

Prior to the Tsitsipas match, Musetti showed his respect for Tsitsipas. “I feel that I really like winning and don’t like losing, so I try to stay focused even in the hard moments, and I think this is the key and the improvement that I made this month,” Musetti said.

“[Tsitsipas] is one of the biggest guys on tour. It’s really an honour to play with him… I think this week every day it’s something more special so let’s see tomorrow what happens”.