Tiafoe books Stuttgart Open semi-final over Musetti

Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti played a very heated match earlier this year in Rome with this one delivering on the quality as well with the American winning 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 6-2.

The match was a very interesting one between two players who are somewhere on the same level but depending on the surface it's either one or the other winning. Musetti won on clay earlier this year which is his stronger surface while Tiafoe proved better on grass, a surface that fits his style a bit better.

The American was up a break early in the opening set but Musetti pulled it back and then outplayed Tiafoe in the tiebreak to win it 8-6 after saving a set point. The second set wasn't rather unremarkable as it was a typical grass set with both players dominating on the serve. Neither player faced a break point in this one but it was Tiafoe who won it 7-4.

The final set finally saw Tiafoe establish control of the match completely outplaying Musetti and taking it 6-2. A very strong performance from both players especially from Musetti in the opening two sets. He totalled 17 aces in the match which is a bit unusual for him but ultimately Tiafoe's familiarity with the surface allowed him to find better solutions than the Italian over the course of the match.

The American now moves on to the semi-final in hopes of making another final. He's a good player for grass with his vast array of shots and speed which is useful for any kind of rushing towards the net. The timely serving is another thing he utilized today better than Musetti who had far more aces but you can call them empty aces.

Just a super solid showing from Tiafoe as he looks to bring this to Wimbledon as well.