Lorenzo Musetti

Lorenzo Musetti is an Italian tennis player. He won his first ATP Tour title at the Hamburg Open in the summer of 2022.

The talented 20-year-old was born in Carrara in Tuscany, Italy, and began playing tennis when he was just four years old.

Nicknamed Muse, Lorenzo’s preferred surface is clay, his favourite shot is forehand and his favourite tournament is Wimbledon.

After a strong junior career, he made his debut on the ATP Tour in February 2020 at the Dubai Tennis Championships, when he was just 17 years old.

From there, he started to make steady progress and soon broke into the world’s top 100. In the summer of 2021, Musetti reached the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time in his career at the French Open.

His first ATP Tour title arrived in the summer of 2022, after he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Hamburg Open.

So, what do we know about Musetti’s journey to becoming the talented tennis player he is today? This is his story.

Early Life, Family And Upbringing

Lorenzo Musetti was born on 3 March 2002 in Carrara in Tuscany, Italy to parents Francesco and Sabrina.

Musetti says that his late grandfather has been one of his main inspirations and describes him as his “hero”. “My grandfather was a really honest man, a genuine man and I wish in the future that I will be like him,” Musetti said in 2022.

Lorenzo Musetti, pictured after winning a title in 2017 (Photo: @lore_musetti / Instagram)

“It’s sad because he passed away a long time ago, so he cannot see what I became. Sometimes it’s tough to think about that, but I would like to describe him as my hero.”

Junior Career

Musetti was a strong junior player and peaked as the number one in the world in the rankings in June 2019.

Musetti beat America’s Emilio Nava 4-6 6-2 7-6(12) in the final in Melbourne to claim the title after having been runner-up in the US Open boys’ singles final a few months earlier. “I had a lot of pressure since the first rounds, but I got a lot of experience last year in New York, so I knew how to manage the pressure and the feelings of the final,” Musetti said afterwards.

Lorenzo Musetti after winning the 2019 Australian Open boys’ singles title (Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / depositphotos.com)

“Today was a crazy match. The first set was really tough, second set was really good – he went down a little bit – but third set was really a fight, and I’m very happy to win my first slam.”

Early Career And First Title

Musetti’s lifelong coach is Simone Tartarini, who he describes as a father figure and credits with helping to shape his game. “Me and Simone are one thing together,” explains Musetti.

“We really have this special feeling. It’s more than a coach and a player, it’s like father and son. I consider him like my second father and I always believed in him as a person and as a tennis coach. He always tried to improve me on and off the court and educate me in the best way. I just want to thank him for all the support that he’s given me.”

Lorenzo Musetti (Photo: Minko Chernev / depositphotos.com)

Musetti made his debut on the ATP Tour in February 2020 when he was handed a wildcard into the qualifying rounds of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He won his two qualifiers to reach the main draw, but lost to Russia’s Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round.

Musetti came through three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. He then beat Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori – both in straight sets – to reach the third round, where he fell to Dominik Koepfer of Germany.

He continued to make solid progress and enjoyed a sparkling grand slam main-draw debut at the French Open in May 2021.

In the fourth round, he was two sets up against Novak Djokovic but retired in the fifth set while trailing 0-4. Speaking after his exit in the fourth round, Musetti explained his decision to retire from the match.

Lorenzo Musetti (Photo: Agenzia LiveMedia / depositphotos.com)

“Of course I am a little bit disappointed, but I played against the number in the world,” said Musetti. “I took him the first two sets. It’s not an injury, it was just a little bit of cramps and a little bit of low back pain.

“I was not anymore able to win a point, so was not really… Grateful also for the crowd that were there. So I decided to retire because there was no chance that I could win a point. I decided to retire because I think it was the best thing to do.”

Musetti enjoyed something of a breakthrough in 2022. He reached the quarter-finals of both the ATP 500 Rotterdam Open and the ATP 250 in Marrakech. At the Madrid Masters, he came through qualifying to reach the third round, where he retired from his match against Alexander Zverev.

Speaking after his victory over Alcaraz and claiming his first career title, Musetti described it as a “dream” come true.

“For me it’s a dream,” said Musetti. “Obviously I always dreamed about winning a title and I didn’t have any chances before. I think my best result was a semi-final, so I never had the opportunity to play a final. I’m really happy with this week. I think we did an amazing job and now we will celebrate and enjoy it for the next days, but we have to focus on Umag and the rest of the year.”

Earnings, Salary And Prize Money

As of August 2022, Lorenzo Musetti has earned a total of US$ 2,034,880 in career prize money, combined for both singles and doubles.

Life Away From The Court

Away from tennis, Lorenzo enjoys listening to classic rock music, and watching both basketball and football. He’s a fan of LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers and Juventus.

Lorenzo Musetti (Photo: @lore_musetti / Instagram)

“I always like to listen to music,” explains Musetti. “I’m always with my headphones and with my speaker in the room and always traveling with so many things regarding music. I always had the passion since I was a child.

“Probably my father transferred to me the passion for music since I was a kid, especially old music. Not [music from] my age, [but] 80s or 90s rock and stuff like that. I wish one day to go to a concert of a rock artist because I haven’t had the chance. I think my first passion outside of tennis is for sure music.”

His favourite foods are lasagna, pizza and gnocchi with ragu, and his dream car is the Ferrari 458.

What Have Others Said?

Novak Djokovic, speaking after beating Musetti, who retired from the match, in the fourth round of the 2021 French Open: “At the beginning of my career, I was also struggling with injuries and had to retire in a few matches at the grand slams. That’s obviously not fun. But, look, Musetti won five sets against Cecchinato last round. The experience is the best teacher. Musetti has definitely all the qualities in his tennis, on clay particularly, but also other surfaces to be a top player. I think if he keeps going in this way, he’s definitely on the right path to become a top player one day.”