The ATP player being tipped as ‘somebody to watch’ in the clay court season as he has the ability to beat anybody

Follow us on Google Discover

The clay court season can really switch things up on the ATP Tour, with some players much more suited to the surface than hard courts.

Rafael Nadal dominated on clay throughout his career, winning a record 14 Roland Garros titles, but this is the first season since he has retired from the sport.

Often compared to his legendary compatriot, Carlos Alcaraz won the Monte Carlo Masters last week to kick-off his clay court season in style.

However, it is actually a player that he beat in Monte Carlo that has received high praise for his recent performances.

Steve Johnson tips Lorenzo Musetti as the player to watch on clay

Lorenzo Musetti was one of the most impressive players at the Monte Carlo Masters, reaching his first final at ATP 1000 level after coming back from losing the first set in four matches.

The Italian was unable to compete to his desired level in the final due to a leg injury, but Alcaraz had high praise for Musetti when speaking after the match.

It is not just Alcaraz who was impressed by what they saw from Musetti, who is now at a career-high ranking, with former ATP player Steve Johnson backing him to be a continual threat during the clay court season.

“He benefits from a decent draw with [Alexander] Zverev losing, which helps, but the guy is so good on clay,” Johnson said on the Nothing Major Podcast. “He just run out of gas, the body kind of broke down in the finals, but he is somebody to watch in the clay court season.

“His flair, his strokes, his game, is not quite as sexy as Alcaraz but on any given day he has the ability to go out there and beat anybody.”

John Isner picks Lorenzo Musetti as his French Open dark horse

It is not the first time that Musetti has impressed on clay, having won an Olympic bronze medal at the in Paris last year, as well as his biggest ATP title so far coming on the dirt at the Hamburg Open in 2022.

The 23-year-old was not the only player that impressed in Monte Carlo, with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reaching the semi-finals, while Alex de Minaur made history.

When discussing these three players and their chances at Roland Garros, former top 10 player John Isner backed Musetti to go the furthest, followed by De Minaur.

“I’ll go with Musetti presuming he can recover from whatever was ailing him in the finals,” said Isner. “You saw the very end with Alcaraz he was 5-0 in the third, Musetti was not even moving at that point, so we will see how he can recover.

“After that De Minaur. I know you all saw his quarter final match against Dimitrov. What was that about? 0-0!”

Despite having the highest win percentage out of the three players, Musetti is the only one yet to have reached a Roland Garros quarter-final so far in his career.

Musetti withdrew from the Barcelona Open in the immediate aftermath of the Monte Carlo final due to a quadricep injury.

It is unclear as to how severe that issue is at this moment in time, with Musetti currently scheduled to return at the Madrid Open.