Cerundolo edges Musetti for third career title in Umag

Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 4 seed, won the Croatia Open trophy by edging out Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the second seed, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) at the ITC Stella Maris in Umag on Saturday evening.

The title is Cerundolo’s third in his career, and comes after a challenging first half of the 2024 season, with the Argentine having lost 20 matches already this year.

Cerundolo was the more aggressive of the two in the Umag final, striking more winners (36 to 19) and unforced errors (26 to 18) than Musetti. He was also better under pressure, saving seven of the 11 break points he faced and converting three of the five he produced on Musetti’s serve.

One of these came when Musetti was serving for the match, with the Italian having broken Cerundolo in the ninth game of the final set.

Earlier in the tournament, Cerundolo, ranked No 37, beat Croat wildcard Matej Dodig (6-3, 6-4), Italian Lorenzo Sonego (6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2)) and Russian Andrey Rublev, the top seed (7-6 (6), 6-4).

Musetti, ranked No 17, defeated Argentinian qualifier Marco Trungelliti (6-4, 6-3), Serb Dusan Lajovic (5-7, 6-3, 6-0) and Jakub Mensik (6-4, 6-1) in the previous rounds of the Umag tournament.

Musetti and Cerundolo now both face the tough task of heading to Paris immediately, with the pair scheduled to play twice at the Olympics on Sunday in the singles and doubles events.