'Energised' local sets up Alcaraz Italian Open semi

Only five Italian men have lifted the trophy in the Eternal City since 1930 and Adriano Panatta was the last to salute in 1976.

Musetti, the 23-year-old with two career titles under his belt, has reached at least the semis in his last three events - on clay in Monte Carlo, where he went down to Alcaraz in the final, and Madrid.

Both Musetti and Zverev were broken twice in the opening set before the Italian convincingly took it in a tiebreak.

Cheered on by roaring home fans, Musetti stifled the German from the baseline and claimed a service break in the ninth game of the second set before serving it out.

"Full crowd, full stadium, and that's a big advantage. All this week there has been incredible support from the fans," said Musetti, who is set for a new career high and a French Open top-eight seeding at Roland Garros.

"I felt the adrenaline and energy from the first point, even if it was not an easy start, but I managed to come back and find a way, and that's the key of this match."

Earlier on Wednesday, Alcaraz won in straight sets despite a strong challenge from Britain's Jack Draper.

Spain's Wimbledon and French Open champ was made to work hard on Campo Centrale on his way to a 6-4 6-4 victory over Draper.

The third-ranked Alcaraz, who withdrew from the Madrid tournament due to an upper right leg problem that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final, moved well on court, often took to the net and used his trademark drop shots and groundstrokes to the best effect.

The four-time grand slam champion had lost to Draper in their most recent meeting in the semi-finals at Indian Wells in March.

Alcaraz rallied from 2-4 to claim the first set, and the turning point then came in the eighth game of the second set, when the Briton looked set to force a decider.

That game lasted almost 10 minutes and Alcaraz saved two break points before coming out on top and then breaking to love in the next game.

With AAP.