WHAT HAPPENED: When Lorenzo Musetti made his Top 10 debut in May, the milestone could have been viewed as the culmination of a long, grueling journey. A place to stop and celebrate. Instead, the Carrara, Italy, native has treated the achievement as a launching point.
Since officially entering the Top 10, Musetti has produced career-best results at two Grand Slams. First Roland-Garros, where he reached the semifinals for the first time, and even took a set from Carlos Alcaraz before being forced to retire due to a hamstring injury; second, he is through to his maiden US Open quarterfinal, after never having reached beyond the third round in his four previous appearances in Flushing Meadows.
23-year-old Musetti took his latest step on Monday in Louis Armstrong Stadium, ripping past rising Spaniard Jaume Munar, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 in one hour and 37 minutes to book his third career Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance.
“I think I played a really solid match from the beginning to the end, and the word "consistency" probably was the definition of this match.” Musetti told reporters after the win. “Feeling really proud of what I'm doing, and I think probably one of my best matches so far on this surface.”
28-year-old Munar has been on the rise as well in 2025, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time and snapping an 0-11 record in the second round of majors at Wimbledon, where he reached the third round. Here in New York he entered the main draw with a 1-6 lifetime record but ran past Jaime Faria, 31st-seeded Gabriel Diallo and Zizou Bergs to reach the second week at a major for the first time.
But Munar was in over his head–and potentially under the weather–against surging Musetti on Monday, as the Italian drove the run of play from the start and peppered Munar with pace and precision off of both wings.
Musetti set the tone in the opener, snapping off 12 winners to just three for Munar and converting both break points he saw to take the set, 6-3.
He was quick to capitalize on his momentum in the second set, breaking for 2-0 and again for 4-0 as a lethargic-looking looked to be struggling to find energy. Another break came quickly, Musetti claiming 24 of 29 points in the second set and taking a two sets to love lead in a blink-and-you-missed it sixty minutes.
A rare bright spot for Munar came early in the third set when he hit his first forehand winner of the day, but it didn’t change the tone of the contest. In the third game of the set, Munar saw a pair of break points get erased by the Italian, who ran him mercilessly from side to side during a 17-stroke rally on the second, and the Spaniard fell to his back, looking completely spent as he desperately tried to catch his breath.
Musetti, foot firmly on the accelerator, continued his sprint to the finish, winning 14 of the final 15 games.
WHAT IT MEANS: Musetti’s journey in New York should get a lot more difficult from here, as he will face either top-seeded Jannik Sinner or Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals. If it is Sinner who comes through tonight, Musetti and Bublik will play the first all-Italian Grand Slam quarterfinal in Open Era history.
On the possibility of facing his compatriot Sinner, the Italian said: “He's the best player in the world, so I guess that's the biggest challenge that we have in our sport. That's what drives me really crazy, the idea to try to break this amazing run that he's been doing.
“Of course he's the best champion. I think the pressure will be mostly on his side.”
MATCH POINT: With his win, Musetti joins Matteo Berrettini and Sinner as only Italian men to reach Grand Slam quarterfinals on clay, grass and hard courts. He also joins Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the third man born in 2000s to achieve the feat.
Musetti is the fourth Italian man to reach the last eight in Flushing Meadows, along with Corrado Barazzutti (1977), Berrettini (2019, 2021-22) and Sinner (2022, 2024).
