The youngest man left in the draw, Lorenzo Musetti, made short work of Australia’s Jordan Thompson to move into the last eight of the Adelaide International with arguably the standout men’s performance to-date this week.
The Italian’s 6-4 6-1 win was nothing less than magnificent, Thompson helpless in the onslaught as indeed many top end professionals would have been.
To top it off, post-match the 21-year-old victor announced he is to become father in March – a well-received answer that almost no-one in the crowd would have seen coming.
“My goal is to try and get back in the top 20 after falling out last year,” he said. “My (personal) goal is to try to be a nice father and I am becoming a father in two months.”
Maybe the last carefree months before parenthood have put him in an especially relaxed place and the fourth-seeded Musetti was nothing less than a joy to watch.
“I was a little bit surprised about my level today,” he said. “I was really pleased by my performance and I am happy to be in the quarters. It’s never easy playing against a hometown boy like Jordan.”
Musetti was merely playing the diplomat. It was an outstanding day’s work.
The sun was still streaming across Centre Court when Lorenzo Musetti and Jordan Thompson strode onto court – the stands packed for the third consecutive night – early on Wednesday evening.
Thompson, ranked world No.47, is having a belter of a year, beating Rafael Nadal in Brisbane last Friday and at 29 years old (he turns 30 in April) is very much looking upwards.
He has won four matches this year already and is very much of the never-give-up brigade – as someone coached by Peter Luczak and a longtime favourite of Davis Cup coach Lleyton Hewitt clearly would be.
A man of few words publicly, he has a casual look about him, but do not be mistaken. Thompson is a player who is focused, determined and means business. He may nearly always favour the pragmatic but has a delicate and clever touch play when he nears the net.
Musetti, a member of the Italian team who claimed the Davis Cup title last November, is ranked world No.25. A former world No.1 junior, he appears to have the temperament and strokes to make him a mainstay of the global game over the next decade.
There is no argument that Musetti comes with a touch of Italian chic. He dresses stylishly and plays with the relaxed air of a man on holidays, but still keen to let everyone know his is the boss. He has, of course, the most suave of one-handed backhands.
An early break by Musetti set the tone for the first set before an improved service game from Thompson at 2-4 down brought a previously quiet crowd to life.
Thompson hung in admirably but it was only delaying the inevitable, Musetti winning his final service of the set to love and to take it 6-4.
The second set was even more emphatic than the first. The cross-court flick that gave Musetti his first match point was sublime and was followed up by a beautiful down the line backhand winner.
Musetti will face the big serving Alexander Bublik, who overcame Dan Evans in three sets at the same time Musetti was parading around Centre Court.