Musetti beats Auger-Aliassime for men's singles bronze in Paris

PARIS (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti won Italy’s first Olympic tennis medal in 100 years on Saturday night, beating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 for the men’s singles bronze.

Asked by an Italian reporter how he planned to celebrate, Musetti said he would eat a pizza.

“I’ve been eating plain pasta and chicken for three months, basically,” he said, “so I think eating a pizza is the least I can do tonight.”

The only other Italian medal in the sport was claimed at the 1924 Games — and it also came in Paris, also was a bronze and also came in men’s singles.

The 22-year-old Musetti is currently ranked No. 16 and is having the most successful stretch of his career. He reached his first Grand Slam semifinal three weeks ago at Wimbledon before losing to Novak Djokovic.

“A magnificent moment,” is how Musetti described his recent results.

Musetti also was eliminated by Djokovic in the Olympic semifinals on Friday, when Auger-Aliassime lost to Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic meets Alcaraz on Sunday for the gold medal.

Auger-Aliassime was trying to claim Canada’s first singles medal at an Olympics. He still will leave the Paris Games with a medal, though, because he teamed with Gabriela Dabrowski to earn the bronze in mixed doubles on Friday.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games