Lorenzo Musetti wiped away tears after reaching his first Wimbledon quarter-final.
Italy’s zestful, floppy-haired Lorenzo Musetti has lost just two matches in his last 11 on the green stuff, with a superb win against lucky loser Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard sending him through to his maiden grand slam quarter-final.
Boasting a truly unique style, Musetti’s free-flowing backhand has guided him to the semi-finals in Stuttgart, the final at Queen’s, and hopefully one better at Wimbledon.
Musetti only allowed ten aces to blaze past him during Monday afternoon’s four-set win, with the dynamic 25th seed somehow managing to quell the powerful serve of the 6ft 8 Frenchman.
With fellow giant-slayer Taylor Fritz, who cooly dispatched the fourth seed Alexander Zverev from two sets down, awaiting in the quarter-finals, both men will be looking to reach unchartered territory – a coveted major semi-final.
What did Lorenzo Musetti say has completely changed his perspective on tennis?
The high-flying Italian is arguably in the best form of his career, having returned from a disappointing clay court season to now firmly find his grass court groove.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel via YouTube after his fourth-round victory, the 22-year-old visibly beamed at every mention of his son Ludovico, who was born in March earlier this year.
“I have experienced the thing to become a father for the first time and how you see the world, how you see life in terms of general life has changed a lot,” he explained smiling.
“I have a completely different view of everything, and I think this helped me a lot in terms of making a step forward on court, my maturity on court, and my attitude on court.
“I want Ludovico when he is grown up to see a real champ, a real daddy champ so hopefully I will make things work.”
The transformation of Musetti’s game has been astonishing to watch as he moves around the court in a truly deliberate, graceful fashion, showing off a vast repertoire of shots.
On the women’s side, Elina Svitolina has also been carefully crafting a wonderful tournament.
With the birth of her daughter in October 2022, it may well suggest that the new responsibilities babies bring might present a new lease of life to players on the tour.
Is Italy the strongest tennis nation?
With Musetti joining World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the last eight, as well as the late-blooming Jasmine Paolini flying ‘il tricolore’ on the women’s side, the sport has undergone a total Italian rebirth over the last 12 months.
A magnificent Davis Cup win in December 2023 saw Sinner convincingly beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur to bring his nation their first win in 47 years.
Sinner then went on to pick up his maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open in January this year, before becoming the first Italian player to reach World No. 1 in singles since computerized rankings began in 1973.
Paolini’s superb run at Roland Garros similarly announced her bullish style to the tennis world as she marched to both the women’s singles and doubles finals.
Having backed up her performance in Paris with a defiant run at Wimbledon so far, the nation seemingly cannot stop creating a whole host of tennis superstars.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
