Injured Musetti Falls to Casper Ruud in Rome as Italian Drops Out of Top 10

Ruud cruises past Musetti

The Norwegian avenged last year’s Rome loss to Sinner by reaching the quarter-finals, while Musetti’s ranking and French Open plans take a hit.

With Musetti hampered by a thigh issue, Ruud cruised into the last eight and will face Karen Khachanov next in Rome...

Casper Ruud cruised into the Italian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, dispatching home favorite Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-1. Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner is preparing for an all-Italian clash with qualifier Andrea Pellegrino.

The clay-court specialist hasn’t lost a set in Rome and looked sharp on a blustery centre court. That was a stark contrast to eighth-seeded Musetti, who appeared hampered physically throughout the tournament.

Musetti was visibly emotional after his third-round win over Francisco Cerundolo and needed a medical timeout in the second set against Ruud for an issue with his left thigh.

The result means the Italian will fall out of the ATP top 10 before Roland Garros next week. He later told reporters he’s uncertain about playing in Paris.

“I don't know, in the next couple of days we'll do some closer tests, something I've not been able to do given that I'm constantly playing,” said Musetti.

“I just hope that the pain I felt is less bad than we think it might be.”

Ruud, who was beaten badly by Sinner in last year’s Rome quarter-finals, finds himself on the opposite side of the draw from the world No. 1 this time. He’ll meet Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals.

The 13th-seeded Khachanov ended Dino Prizmic’s run to a first Masters 1000 quarter-final, defeating the Croatian qualifier 6-1, 7-6(2).

Prizmic made headlines earlier this week by taking out Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Sinner faces a David vs Goliath matchup against fellow Italian Pellegrino as he looks to extend his record run of five straight Masters 1000 titles.

At 29, Pellegrino is ranked 155th in the world and hadn’t played in an ATP main draw at this level before this week.

If Sinner wins in Rome, he’ll become the first Italian to lift the Foro Italico trophy since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago and complete his set of Masters 1000 titles.

With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury and Djokovic out early, Sinner enters as the clear favorite as he builds toward his bid for a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros.