Lorenzo Musetti, anxiety grows after latest announcement
Lorenzo Musetti’s return continues to slip and, with it, some apprehension is also growing around his condition. The Carrara player, who has been out of action since May 12 after the injury to the rectus femoris of his left thigh sustained at the Internazionali d’Italia, has also made official his withdrawal from the ATP 500 at Queen’s, a historic London event that represents for many a key step towards Wimbledon. A decision that confirms how the recovery time is proving to be longer than expected.
The first alarm bells had come right after the defeat in the round of 16 at the Foro Italico, when Musetti had communicated on social media the result of examinations: a muscle injury that would force him to several weeks of stop, effectively ending his season on clay. The hope was to see him again at Queen’s, a tournament in which he had been a finalist in 2024 and which represented an ideal stage to test his physique before the third Slam of the season. Instead, the deletion of his name from the scoreboard tells a different reality.
The forfeit also weighs heavily in terms of ranking. The Azzurro, away from the courts for almost a month and a half, has slipped down to the number 16 position in the ATP ranking, a figure that is not worrying in the immediate term but that photographs a complicated period, marked more by expectations and renunciations than by results. The comeback is now set directly for Wimbledon, kicking off on June 29, a leap in the gap that Musetti will have to face without official matches behind him and with the unknown of how his physique will respond to the stresses of grass.
A 2002 class, a two-time Davis Cup winner and Olympic bronze medalist in Paris 2024, Lorenzo Musetti is experiencing a decidedly complicated 2026, despite a good start, with a final reached in Hong Kong and an important path at the Australian Open: however, it was in Melbourne that the ordeal began for the Carrara native, who since retiring in the quarterfinals (while ahead by two sets against Novak Djokovic) has yet to regain his best form.
