Wimbledon, Lorenzo Musetti tries to do the feat
Wimbledon, Lorenzo Musetti tries to do the feat
There have been three Italians to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon: Nicola Pietrangeli in 1960, beaten by Rod Laver 4-6 6-3 8-10 6-2 6-4, Matteo Berrettini in 2021, the only one who managed to reach the final after defeating Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 6-0 6-7 6-4, and Jannik Sinner, beaten 6-3 6-4 7-6 last year by Novak Djokovic. Today he will try to join this exclusive club of Italians who finished in the top four at the Championships Lorenzo Musetti.
The 22-year-old Tuscan from Carrara è one of the most crystal-clear talents of world tennis, but so far, for a variety of reasons, physical and especially mental, he has not yet managed to show his full potential. He is currently è number 25 in the world and today he will play his quarterfinal on court number 1 against the U.S. Taylor Fritz, number 12, at the conclusion of the temminile quarterfinal between Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova, which will start at 2 p.m. Italian time, 1 p.m. in London.
Although his path was not impossible (he beat in’order France’s Constant Lestienne, Lucano Darderi, Argentina’s Francisco Comesana and France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Musetti let five sets to his opponents on the road, never winning by three sets to zero, and against Darderi he was even down two sets to one. Today Musetti will have to raise his level of play and consistency of performance against an opponent who starts favored and who last year touched No. 5 in the world rankings, while Musetti has never è gone higher than No. 15.
Lorenzo è his first appearance in a quarterfinal at a Slam, while Fritz, a 26-year-old born in San Diego and son of former top ten Kathy May, è his fourth (previous ones are Wimbledon 2022, US Open 2023 and Australian Open 2024), but he è never managed to reach the semifinals in a Major. The record speaks of two wins to one in favor of Fritz, including 6-4 6-4 6-3 in the first round of Wimbledon in 2022, but Musetti won the last challenge, on clay in Monte Carlo, with a double 6-4.
