VIENNA — No. 3-ranked Alexander Zverev paid for not closing out Lorenzo Musetti and lost their Erste Bank Open quarterfinal on Friday.
Zverev won the first set and had momentum in the second, where he led 3-0 in a tiebreaker. But the top seed lost it from there, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 after 2 1/2 hours.
Zverev, the 2021 Vienna champion, also lost to Musetti in the Paris Olympics quarterfinals.
Musetti was rapt to pull off the comeback.
“It’s definitely a match that means a lot to me,” the Italian said. “It’s a pretty big win (in my career), because Sascha really loves to play here, on this court, in these conditions.”
Sixth-seeded Musetti will face seventh-seeded Jack Draper, the Briton who found another gear to tip out Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in two hours.
Also, Karen Khachanov beat Matteo Berrettini of Italy 6-1, 6-4 for the first time in five meetings. Khachanov is on a seven-match winning run after taking the Almaty title last weekend.