Kouame pays for the effort in the opening set
The effort was worth it. Kouame was warned for taking too much time between serves and he saved three break points to go 3-1 up. He had a chance to go 4-1 up but then dropped his serve with what appeared to be right hamstring pain. A medical timeout tied it at 4-4 at 3-2. A lackluster service game then gave Musetti a break, and the Italian took the set 6-4 with less than an hour to go.
Before the second set, Kouame took a bathroom break and thereafter measured his energy more carefully. At 2-2, Musetti missed a break point. Kouame then had stomach problems and lost serve for the third time in the match. He called the doctor on a substitution and tried to cut short rallies by stepping out to the net, but Musetti punished him with passing shots and pucks on every short ball.
Trailing 4-2, Kouame appeared to ask his team if he should continue. He played three more points before the doctor was called to the court midway through the game and checked out with a stethoscope. He then closed for 3-4 and 4-5, urging the crowd to keep going as he walked back to his chair.
Mussetti’s service settles it at the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Grand Prix
Musetti never looked troubled while serving. She hit 65 percent of her first serves and won 82 percent of her backhand points, and she finished the match with a love game at the net.
Musetti, ranked 25th, opened his week with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Matteo Arnaldi. This is his sixth quarter-final of the season, after Hong Kong, the Australian Open, Barcelona, Washington and the Cincinnati Masters 1000.
