Last year's finalist Fritz beats late entry Musetti at ATP Finals

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Taylor Fritz got off to a strong start at the ATP Finals by beating late entry Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.

Unlike Musetti, who was making his debut, Fritz has pedigree in the tournament for the season’s top eight players after reaching the final last year and the semifinals on debut in 2022. He’d also spent the past week preparing on the indoor court.

“A very important one to win I would say if I want to make it out of the group,” Fritz said. “He plays quite different with the slices and everything. So it took me some time to get used to it.

“I was able to avoid getting broken early in the match when he had some chances. Then I feel like I kind of got into the match more. … I thought I played really well.”

Musetti was a late replacement for Novak Djokovic, who withdrew with an injured shoulder after beating the Italian in the Athens final on Saturday. Musetti arrived in Turin only on Sunday but couldn’t ride his hometown crowd’s support.

“I couldn’t be at 100% in shape, especially physically,” Musetti said. “Mentally, I’m really glad that I’m here. I’m super proud of myself, of my team, of what we achieved. Today, I tried to fight with what I had.”

Later, defending champion Jannik Sinner was playing Felix Auger-Aliassime in a rematch of their recent Paris Masters final won by Sinner in straight sets.