Lorenzo Musetti, rival of Alcaraz: with the flag of the Italian classical tradition

Two years ago, when he took Novak Djokovic to five sets in the round of 16, in his first appearance in the final draw of a Grand Slam, some very authoritative voice in Italian journalism commented that he was the good guy, not Jannik Sinner, so now making first steps with the best, nor Matteo Berrettini, with signs of a lot of life, especially on fast track. El bueno was Lorenzo Musetti. It remains to be seen if that judgment had an opportunistic air or if, given the professional consideration that the person who issued it deserves, it was not far from the truth regarding the young man who this Sunday (around 4:00 p.m., Eurosport) is measured against Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of Roland Garros.

Sinner has played two Masters 1000 finals, the last of them last spring in Miami, after beating Alcaraz, who was defending the title, in a spectacular semifinal, and also had Djokovic on the brink of the canvas, in the quarterfinals of the last Wimbledon. He is number 9 in the world and has won seven titles, although all of them are of a modest category.. In this edition of Roland Garros he crashed in the second round against the German Daniel Altmaier, 79th. Hampered by injuries, Berrettini, also with seven titles, none of them high, absent in Paris in order to focus on tournaments on grass, has not been able to confirm the expectations unleashed when he reached the Wimbledon final in 2021.

Musetti walks more slowly, different from both, a fine stylist he found last year in Naples and Hamburg, a tournament where he beat Alcaraz in the final, the endorsement of a progression that does not stop. At 21 years old, the player from Carrara travels a bit behind the new wave where Alcaraz, Holguer Rune and Sinner himself stand out.

those who come

“The first thing I see in Carlos is a friend and then he started his path; he is a new generation, he is the first to win a Grand Slam title after the Big Three. We will try, Holger, Jannik and the others just behind, to get closer to him. The game in Hamburg gave me a lot of confidence and I hope the match will be good.. Of course, the positions are different, the states are different, but we will benefit if we play against each other,” he said after rolling over Cameron Norrie, the 14th seed, in the third round.

Possessing an elegant one-handed backhand, this handsome tennis player with an acting vocation, as he commented in an interview with the website claytenis.com, has been a semifinalist this year for Conde de Godó, where he lost between sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas, and defeated, this time yes, in the second round of Monte Carlo to Djokovic, before falling against Sinner. His game fits in substance and form with the classic tradition of Italian tennis, led by Adriano Panatta, the man who twice beat six-time tournament champion Bjorn Borg at Roland Garros and lifted the cup in 1976.

“I see myself as someone who has evolved, I have more experience and have played many more matches. I won, of course, but I also lost. These defeats allowed me to see who I am as a player. I’m more prepared now than I was two years ago against Nole,” he says.