Lorenzo Musetti was hoping to continue his impressive clay-court campaign by reaching the final of the Italian Open.
The 23-year-old has arguably been the ATP Tour’s most consistent performer on the surface in 2025, reaching the semi-finals of all three clay Masters 1000 events.
Musetti’s win over Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open was one of his best, as he took down the defending champion in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.
Standing between the Italian and a place in Sunday’s showpiece match was world number three Carlos Alcaraz, who had beaten Musetti in the Monte-Carlo final one month earlier.
Unable to return the favor, Musetti lost to Alcaraz once more, 3-6, 6-7, sending the Spaniard through to the final.
During his post-match press conference, Musetti explained what he was ‘struggling’ with from the very first point against Alcaraz.
Lorenzo Musetti ‘struggled’ to keep a positive mentality from the ‘first point’ against Carlos Alcaraz
Speaking after the match, Musetti reflected on his disappointing defeat to Alcaraz in Rome.
“Today was a tough day for me. Honestly, I entered on court with such a great mentality,” he said.
“But then afterwards, after the first point, honestly, I start to struggle with keeping that attitude that I showed in the past months, in the past week, which helped me to come back from various situations and from various difficult moments of the last matches.”
The Italian was then asked about the windy conditions on Stadio Centrale, which affected both players.
“Today was, yeah, of course, the wind, shadows. Everything was complicated for me. I couldn’t feel the ball really well, honestly,” said Musetti.
“But I think both of us, we couldn’t show our tennis.
“At least for me, it was so complicated to play. I was too much focused on the negative things today. That’s why I’m very disappointed.”
Alcaraz and Musetti both hit an abnormal number of unforced errors during their sixth career meeting, in a match that will sooner be remembered for its drama than its quality.
- Carlos Alcaraz – 39 Unforced errors
- Lorenzo Musetti – 41 Unforced errors
Musetti then responded when asked how tough he found it keeping his composure against an elite player like Alcaraz.
“I mean, I don’t know how many matches I played since Monte-Carlo. I think I have never in my career so far managed to have, like, 15 or whatever matches that I played before this match,” he said.
“To be there, to play each point, to have a great attitude, a great consistency…
“So for me, of course, coming with many, many matches with a good consistency, it’s something that I never experienced. Definitely, that has to be one point where you have a bad day. Today was.”
The world number nine did, however, concede that there were worse days to have a ‘bad day’.
“Of course, it wasn’t the right moment, honestly, to be the bad day at the office,” said Musetti.
“But it happens. Of course, what can I say? I mean, better here than in the semis of Paris. I don’t know what I have to say.
“Of course, it’s a lesson for the next event that’s even bigger than this one. A lot of things that I learn also from this loss.”
It was announced earlier on Friday that Musetti had unsurprisingly withdrawn from next week’s Hamburg Open event and will now prepare for Roland Garros, which gets underway later this month.
Lorenzo Musetti’s French Open record
Having appeared in four French Open tournaments throughout his career to date, Musetti has yet to reach the quarterfinals.
- 2021 French Open – Lorenzo Musetti lost in 4R
- 2022 French Open – Lorenzo Musetti lost in 1R
- 2023 French Open – Lorenzo Musetti lost in 4R
- 2024 French Open – Lorenzo Musetti lost in 3R
At a glance, you’d dismiss his efforts in Paris, but a closer look would show you just how unlucky Musetti has been at Roland Garros.
On three occasions, Musetti has lost in a deciding fifth set in the French capital, and his defeats have all been against players with serious clay-court pedigree.
| Match | Opponent | Notes on opponent | Score |
| 2024 French Open – 3R | Novak Djokovic | 3-time French Open winner | 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 0-6 |
| 2023 French Open – 4R | Carlos Alcaraz | 2024 French Open winner | 3-6, 2-6, 2-6 |
| 2022 French Open – 1R | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 2021 French Open finalist | 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 2-6 |
| 2021 French Open – 4R | Novak Djokovic | 3-time French Open winner | 7-6, 7-6, 1-6, 0-6, 0-4 (RET) |
Musetti lost a war against Novak Djokovic in the third round of the 2024 French Open, coming up short in five sets, after four hours and 29 minutes of action.
The Italian hasn’t been helped out at all by the draw over the last four years, but is unlikely to encounter the same issues in 2025.
His performances on clay over the past few months have seen him secure a top-eight seeding for the French Open, which will see Musetti avoid the likes of Alcaraz, Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner until the quarterfinals.
Musetti will be as confident as ever of reaching a maiden French Open quarterfinal when this year’s competition begins on Sunday, May 25.
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