Lorenzo Musetti reveals his fear after becoming father
Yesterday at 05:30 PM
2024 was a very important year in Lorenzo Musetti's career and life. The Italian player is facing a new phase of his life, in which he can no longer think only of himself, having given birth to his first son Ludovico together with his girlfriend Veronica.
The young tennis player from Carrara had not started the season well, suffering several unexpected defeats and giving the feeling of not being calm on court. After the birth of Ludovico, the situation improved and Lorenzo returned to play the wonderful tennis that everyone knows.
Although he has not won a single title this year, Musetti's season has been very positive. The Italian ace achieved his best results between spring and summer, proving that he can be a very dangerous player on all surfaces.
Lorenzo Musetti, Vienna 2024© Stream screenshotMusetti reached the semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships by defeating a very tough opponent like Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals, before surrendering to seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. Lorenzo also played really well at the Paris Olympics, which took place on red clay, the Italian player's favorite surface.
The Italian number 2 beat Fritz and Sascha Zverev in the quarterfinals, surrendering again to Djokovic in the semifinals. Musetti embellished his amazing week by winning the bronze medal after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final for third and fourth place.
Musetti has grown upLorenzo's next goal will be to become consistent throughout the season and enter the Top 10 of the ATP ranking. The Italian player is not far from this milestone and is still young, which is why he has plenty of time to further hone his weapons. Musetti doesn't have the baseline power of his compatriot Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but his all-around talent makes him a truly dangerous player for everyone (including the four best players in the ATP ranking).
Lorenzo Musetti, Chengdu 2024© Stream screenshotIn a long interview with ‘Tennis Channel’, the Italian ace reflected on the impact of fatherhood on his career: "With the birth of my son, Ludovico, that gave me a lot of responsibility on also Lorenzo 'the player' and not just of the 'figure of the father’. So definitely in in that terms, I think I I improved a lot. Even if I think I have to do more and that will bring me probably even more results.
Lorenzo continued: "Honestly, I was pretty scared of everything but it goes really naturally. All the things like holding the baby.
I was really scared of holding him and then when the nurse was giving me him for the first time, I was holding him like really in a natural way. Me and Veronica, my partner. I think we are doing a good job.
For these seven months, they were really going really fast and I saw a lot of changes in him and I could only think about the future when we will start to walk, when he starts to talk and when he start to understand what I'm doing for living.”
A different styleThe ace from Carrara had lost his way a bit last season after shining in 2022 and some insiders thought he had lost the right way. Musetti has shown that he has plenty of room for improvement this year and has returned to winning great matches against the best players in the world.
His variations from the baseline and his unpredictable play can put anyone in trouble, even top players like Fritz and Zverev. The German - current world number 2 - was recently defeated by the Italian at the Vienna ATP 500 thanks to an amazing performance.
Lorenzo also faced 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic at the French Open this year, forcing him into a five-set battle on the iconic Philippe Chatrier. The Italian player and the Serbian legend also faced each other in the semi-final of the Wimbledon Championships and in the semi-final of the Paris Olympics, in which Nole prevailed more easily. The former world number 1 has always spent beautiful words for the young Italian, who has a game not on the ATP tour today.
Lorenzo has never hidden that he is inspired by Roger Federer: “My favorite player, for sure, was Roger Federer. He has always been a great inspiration to me. I would have loved to play against him but unfortunately, I didn't have that chance. For me, Roger Federer is the greatest player of all time."
He also praised Serena Williams: "The greatest woman of all time to play against probably would be Serena Williams because she had the strength of a man and she was hitting hard balls and I think it for sure it would have been tough to play against her.”