Emotional scenes as heartbroken Lorenzo Musetti breaks down in tears after losing 5th consecutive final at Chengdu Open

Lorenzo Musetti's outing in the 2025 Chengdu Open final turned out to be one that ended in tears for the Italian. Even though the top seed had two championship points, he couldn't capitalize on them and ultimately, his unseeded opponent Alejandro Tabilo came out on top with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5) win. Musetti has now lost five consecutive ATP Tour-level finals he has appeared in, with his most recent title triumph coming back in October 2022.

After losing the final of the ATP 250 event for the second successive year on Tuesday, September 23, the World No. 9 broke down in tears. He sat on his courtside bench for quite some time, burying his head in his towel as Tabilo celebrated. Overall, it was a chastening experience for Musetti, who was statistically superior on the day in terms of winners, unforced errors and points.

Last year, it was home favorite Shang Juncheng who defeated Lorenzo Musetti in the Chengdu Open final, with the Chinese tennis sensation beating the Italian 7-6(4), 6-1.

Musetti has two ATP Tour-level title triumphs to his name. Both of those came in 2022, with the first one coming at that year's Hamburg European Open, where he prevailed against Carlos Alcaraz in the final. Later, at the 2022 Tennis Napoli Cup, he defeated compatriot Matteo Berrettini at the last hurdle.

Since Naples glory in 2022, Lorenzo Musetti has lost finals across five events, including an ATP 500 and a Masters 1000

Carlos Alcaraz (left) and Lorenzo Musetti (right) posing with the men's singles winner's and runner-up's trophies respectively at the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters (Source: Getty)

At last year's Queen's Club Championships, an ATP 500 grasscourt event, Lorenzo Musetti clashed against Tommy Paul in the final. Here, the American emerged victorious against the Italian, registering a 6-1, 7-6(8) win. After the victory, Paul had kind words for Musetti as he lauded the Italian's progress on grass in recent years, saying:

"Watching him play on grass the past two or three years has been really cool. I think everyone kind of thought of him as a clay-court player, and he's kind of proven everyone wrong. He's obviously a force on the grass courts and is comfortable on it and plays very, very well on it."

Musetti went on to lose the finals of the Croatia Open and the Chengdu Open in 2024. This year, before suffering his heartbreaking final defeat in Chengdu, Musetti had to settle for second-best against Carlos Alcaraz at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Edited by Sudipto Pati