Argentina Open: Lorenzo Musetti beats Pedro Cachin to set up Varillas clash in QFs

Lorenzo Musetti of Italy on Thursday produced a stunning performance to beat home favourite Pedro Cachin at the ongoing Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

The Italian eased back into the win column with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against home favourite Pedro Cachin.

Musetti opened the court often in his tournament debut, showing patience while remaining aggressive, to secure his first victory since winning four straight games at the United Cup. He generated 10 break points, of which he used half, and won the final three games of the one-hour, 25-minute match to secure the victory.

Musetti, who was ranked 20th in the world heading into the week, has moved up two spots to No. 18 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, which would be a career-best. On Friday, he will play qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas in the quarterfinals after the Peruvian earlier in the day overcame Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4.

Fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo defeated Spain's Jaume Munar by scores of 6-2, 6-1 to go to the quarterfinals in the top half of the draw. Cerundolo, one of two Argentines, along with Tomas Martin Etcheverry, will next face Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain in the quarterfinals.

In the last match of the ATP 250 on Thursday, fourth seed Diego Schwartzman was defeated by Zapata Miralles 6-1, 6-3. The Argentine, who was previously eliminated in the first round of the Cordoba tournament on home soil, suffered his second opening-match loss in as many weeks.

"It was not easy because Pedro was playing good. It was his second round and for me it was the first match here. I feel great. I felt great from when I arrived here. I feel at home even if we are in Argentina. I think Italian culture and Argentinian culture is really close. So I'm happy with the win because I played great tennis," Lorenzo Musetti was quoted as saying by ATP.com.

"He beat Thiem so I think he's playing pretty well. I have to focus on my game and concentrate on myself and try to play, like today, really solid," Musetti said ahead of the pair's first ATP Head2Head meeting.

( With inputs from ANI )