Lorenzo Musetti is having the year of his life, with fatherhood, grand slam semi-finals, and bronze medals all coming at once.
Lorenzo Musetti maintained his glittering form on the clay with a hard-earned win against Felix Auger-Aliassime in Saturday’s bronze-medal match at the Paris Olympics.
After a major lapse in the second set, the 22-year-old regained his composure to power to a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, victory under the Parisian sun.
The Italian ultimately secured the decisive break in the deciding set to obtain a historic bronze medal for Italy, and in the process stem an 100-year wait.
Musetti defeated Taylor Fritz and defending Olympic champion Alexander Zverev on his way to the last four, before succumbing to Novak Djokovic in the last four – a hurdle he also failed to jump over at Wimbledon.
With Musetti tipped as a ‘dark horse’ for an Olympic medal, the Italian is certainly fulfilling his potential, with a final in Umag, and semi-final at Wimbledon contributing to a truly historic month.
Lorenzo Musetti ends an 100-year wait for Italian tennis
With the high-flying Italian wobbling mid-match, a bronze medal looked in peril.
After he took back control of the match and smartly waltzed to the finish line, Musetti became the first Italian tennis player to win an Olympic medal since Uberto de Morpugo at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Italian tennis has undergone a transformation this year, with a Davis Cup victory at the end of 2023 ending a 47-year wait since the nation last won the tournament.
Similarly, Jannik Sinner, who was forced to withdraw from the Olympics, became the first Italian man or woman to reach the world number one spot, since the computerized rankings began in 1973.
Musetti was booed onto court during his opening Olympic match against Frenchman Gael Monfils, but has since won over the crowd on his way to third place.
You wait for 100 years – then two come at once.
With Musetti’s bronze medal marking a historic afternoon for Italian tennis, this year’s French Open finalists Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani are guaranteed at least one better.
The plucky pair now face off against Russian pair Diana Shnaider and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva as they go for gold.
Paolini is having an even better summer than Musetti, with back-to-back grand slam singles finals at the French Open and Wimbledon guiding her up into the top five for the first time.
As Italian tennis continues to mark itself out as back and better, Italy will hold their breath a moment longer to see if they can secure gold in the women’s doubles.
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