Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti came into the US Open winless at the Grand Slams in 2022. Given the sublime talents that the 20-year-old possesses, don’t expect first-round losses at Grand Slams to become a trend.
This week in Flushing Meadows, the Carrara native—a slick, extremely skilled shotmaker with a dreamy one-handed backhand—has already engineered a reversal of fortune. Riding the confidence gained from winning his first ATP title on the red clay of Hamburg in July, Musetti is into the third round at the US Open for the first time.
Musetti tells USOpen.org that something clicked when he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in that grueling final in Germany, one in which he squandered five championship points in the second set before finally closing out the red-hot Spaniard in three.
“Of course Hamburg, it’s part of both wins, it’s part of the win today and the win of the other day,” he said, referring to his first-round win over David Goffin and his second-round triumph over Gijs Brouwer in New York. “I think you can play good, you can play bad, but when you have that kind of confidence and trust in your feelings and in your shots, I think it’s a way to get through, to find solutions, and to find the win.”
Musetti, who faces Ilya Ivashka for a spot in the Round of 16 on Saturday in Queens, is far from a quintessential hard courter. He grew up sliding on the slow-playing clay that populates his native Italy, and likes to have time to set up his shots.
But he is enjoying the conditions at Flushing Meadows.
“I really like the conditions, they are not so fast,” he said of the gritty hard courts in play at the US Open.
The world No. 30 also enjoys the New York vibe, and that’s an important fact to note. Many players come to the Big Apple and find their energy sucked away by the frantic buzz of the city that never sleeps.
For Musetti, the energy of Manhattan is a spark.
“I like the energy of New York,” he says with a smile. “When you walk around Manhattan it seems like you are in a movie, for us from Europe. You go to Times Square, you go to Central Park—wherever you go you feel at home.”
In addition to Times Square, Musetti has also been drifting downtown. He and his team have joined Matteo Berrettini's group at an Italian eatery in the East Village, on 4th St., nearly every night.
“We found the crazy guy that’s already supporting us, Giovanni,” Musetti says, speaking of Giovanni Bartocci, the wildly bearded restaurant owner who is mad about Italian tennis. “He has a restaurant, Via Della Pace, that Matteo Berrettini always goes to. We joined the crew and we found the right spot and the right place to eat in New York.”
Whether walking through Central Park, wolfing down Rigatoni All’Amatriciana in the Village or dancing on his baseline in Flushing Meadows, there’s no denying Musetti’s style is top notch.
He made the cover of Esquire Italia in 2022, decked out in a slightly oversized bespoke Armani suit, and he wouldn’t be out of place on a fashion runway in Milan.
But on the tennis court is where the Italian really pops.
Musetti doesn’t just have all the shots, he also has an undeniable telegenic quality to his game, thanks to the elegant, free-flowing backhand that has been dropping jaws since he turned pro.
A natural on the clay, Musetti has begun to find his best tennis on the hard courts as well. He says his success in New York is due to hard yards on the practice courts, where he seeks more aggression in his game.
“I’m working really hard to make the hard court season a memorable one,” he said. “I invested a lot in playing on hard courts and getting the experience that I needed to play more aggressively, starting with the serve and the forehand.”
Musetti entered the US Open with a 15-23 career record on hard courts, compared to 30-17 on clay. But his first two matches at the Open are living proof that the numbers don’t tell the current story.
This week in New York Musetti is all about mastering his hard-court chops, and it shows.
“Sometimes last year I was not able to go through the ball and I was standing back and not pushing so much, and now I am feeling more comfortable,” he said. “I work really hard on the physical part to adjust all the right steps to do on the hard-court season and I’m happy with the work, but of course I need to improve and to learn more. But all the sacrifice and hard work, it’s paying off for sure.”
