Lorenzo Musetti surprises everyone on his backhand

Lorenzo Musetti Speaks

After his season of definitive consecration and waiting for his Davis Cup match against the United States that will feature him, Lorenzo Musetti gave an interview to Tennis Magazine.

“I grew up with him. We have a special relationship. It was important for me to have him by my side. We recently started collaborating with Umberto Rianna (Matteo Berrettini’s former coach, ed.). Now I feel we are a good team to play at this level,” he said about his coach Simone Tartarini.

He then talked about his strength, the one-handed backhand: “”No one taught it to me. It came naturally. When I picked up my first racket, I played the one-handed backhand. I think I made the right choice. I never wanted to change.”

Although then Lorenzo surprised everyone by pointing to David Nalbandian’s bimane backhand as his favorite: “In my opinion he had one of the best backhands on the tour. Sometimes when I’m hitting a backhand winner down the line, I imagine David. Federer was my childhood idol. But when it comes to backhand, I think of Nalbandian.”

“It can be both. But now it’s more of a blessing. Because if you know how to handle all these things, you can get great results. Sometimes it can be a curse, but it’s part of the game. I accept that,” Musetti continued about his variety of play.

Finally, he commented on the painful defeats at Roland Garros against Novak Djokovic last year and Stefanos Tsitsipas this year, both of which came with the Carrara-based tennis player ahead by two sets: “I think I played two of the best matches of my life against them. But it was not enough. They were tough defeats, but important to understand where I needed to improve.”