Lorenzo Musetti gets his first win of the 2022 season in Pune

MDP Live - Second seed Lorenzo Musetti finally bagged his first win of the 2022 season at the ATP level 250 tournament, Maharashtra Open, Pune.

For that, the Italian tennis player had to fight all out to knock out the Australian, Aleksandar Vukic 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

“Aleksandar played well, he served really hard, and I tried to stay calm even in the second set, which I didn't win. The set didn't go the way I planned. But the third set was really a great set," said Musetti, who won the first meeting against world number 140 Vukic.

"I stayed really focused with a positive attitude and I won an impressive match against a tough player. I'm really happy to be here and through to the quarter-finals."

One of the competitors in the Next Gen ATP Finals, last season's Milan is now strolling into the quarter-finals for the first time since the Lyon Open last May. The 19-year-old is looking to win an ATP tournament title this week for the first time in his career.

World number 66 Musetti will face a challenging match in the quarter-finals of the Maharashtra Open when he takes on Poland's Kamil Majchrzak for the first time in his career.

World number 95 Majchrzak, who won all three of his country's second singles matches in the group stage of the ATP Cup, defeated France's Quentin Halys 6-3, 7-6.

In other action, the Portuguese national who has bagged three titles, Joao Sousa also had to give his best before picking up a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory over third seed and Musetti's compatriot, Gianluca Mager.

World number 137 Sousa will now battle German Daniel Altmaier for a place in the Maharashtra Open semifinals.

World number 85 Altmaier also had to fight extra hard before beating Moldovan national Radu Albot 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. With this victory, the fifth seed, Altmaier also strolled into the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament which was held on hard-courts.

While the first seed, Aslan Karatsev will start his campaign at the Maharashtra Open this season by competing against qualifier from Sweden, Elias Ymer.

Aleksandar Vukic to challenge Lorenzo Musetti in Pune

MDP Live - Australian tennis player, Aleksandar Vukic fought it out as he started the Maharashtra Open 2022 season in Pune, India.

Having lost the first set, the world number 140 defended as hard as possible to win 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 over Frenchman Hugo Grenier and book a second round match against second seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Looking forward to playing against Italian Musetti, Vukic said, “He's one of those young players who are really trying to hit the ground running. It's going to be a great game but I'm feeling great and it's going to be a great game for both of us."

The tennis player who has progressed to the second round of the Australian Open this season, needs extra hard work to book a place in the second round of the Maharashtra Open in Pune, to be precise he needed 2 hours 21 minutes.

"It was a very physical match. I thought I played a little sloppy in the first set, but then I started to find some of my best performances. Struggled a few games, went 3-1 up in the third set, and kudos to him, he kept fighting and he broke me. To be honest, the game could have ended otherwise, but the first game is always difficult, so I'm happy with this win."

In other action, second seed Emil Ruusuvuori went through a tough second set before thrashing Belarusian Egor Gerasimov 6-0, 7-6. Finland's Ruusuvuori will next face Czech Vit Kopriva who crippled Turkey's Cem Ilkel 6-4, 6-1.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese tennis player, Joao Sousa also had to fight hard for 2 hours 26 minutes to carve out a 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory over the host player who received a wildcard, Arjun Kadhe.

"It was a tough match against the home team. I know I might have been a little bit better at my level but it was definitely a tough match after a set down and a very tight second set. In the end, I managed to shoot some impressive punches to get my level up a little bit higher,” explained Sousa.