The 19-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti is molding into a better player with each passing month. The rookie achieved his victory over a Top 10 player in the 500 series at Acapulco.
The Italy-born is a specialist on the clay courts, as most Italian courts are on clay. However, the majority of courts in ATP tours are hard courts, thus, Musetti claims losing on the hard courts also helps him grow as a player and gain more experience.
World No. 120 is showing the best gameplay in his maiden Mexican Open and even defeating the World no. 9 Diego Schwartzman in the fourth round of the Mexican tournament. He defeated the Argentine star for 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Musetti next went against Frances Tiafoe on Wednesday, March 17, and won against the American for 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) in two hours and 44 minutes. The World No. 56 was the only player who dragged the Italian rookie to a tiebreaker round.
"Cada punto fue una pelea. Lloré un poco luego del partido por todo lo que pensaba. Fue un momento emocional con mi entrenador, es como un segundo padre para mí. Está muy orgulloso", @lorenzomusetti_ en conferencia de prensa luego de vencer a Frances Tiafoe en tres sets. pic.twitter.com/RVhR2TCFR9
— Abierto Mexicano (@AbiertoTelcel) March 18, 2021
Lorenzo Musetti is aiming to occupy his place in the Top 100
The 19-year-old ranked 320 in the past year and moved up to 120 with his immense hard work. Thus it is possible for him to take his place in the top 100 and become the second 19-year-old to occupy the place, after the fellow Italian Jannik Sinner.
The World No.32 Sinner recently played in the Dubai Tennis Championships, losing to Aslan Karatsev in the quarterfinals for 7-6(5), 3-6, 2-6. The young star also acknowledged the potential of Musetti.
Sinner said, “Musetti is a big, big talent. He can do everything with the ball already, so he’s already physically strong. I think he’s a great player … He’s serving big and going for shots.
“Everyone is different, has different styles, so I think that’s very exciting.”
Lorenzo Musetti achieves his maiden victory over a top 10 player- Diego Schwartzman in the 2021 Mexican Open. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
The young Musetti is pleased with his performance so far, but working hard with his coaches to improve his game, as he knows it will be harder to climb ranks after the implementation of the new ranking system.
“The start of the season is really good,” conveyed Musetti. “It’s not easy to rise because of the rankings now, it’s still a little bit frozen, but I’m playing good… I’m trying to reach them and break into the Top 100, that’s my goal”
The 19-year-old Italian rookie will face the seasoned Mexican Grigor on Friday, March 18, in the 2021 Abierto Mexicano Telcel. We might also witness the young player winning his maiden title in the Mexican tournament.
