Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti is quietly confident that he will be able to continue his promising start to the season into the upcoming clay court swing.
The 19-year-old is currently at a ranking high of 90th in the world and is the second youngest player inside the top 100. He has already reached the final of two Challenger events this year in Turkey and Italy. Although his standout performance took place at the Mexican Open last month when he reached the semi-finals as a qualifier before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas. It was the first time in Musetti’s career he had reached the last four of an ATP 500 tournament.
Following his rise in the rankings, the teenager believes he can ‘surprise’ others on the clay this season. It was on the surface last year where he first burst into the limelight at the Italian Open. At the Masters 1000 tournament he scored shock wins over Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka.
“When we were practising these [past few] days, I felt the ball so good and I have good feelings,” Musetti told atptour.com. “I think it is going to be really nice and I think I will surprise [others] in the clay season. I am really looking forward to playing on clay.”
Musetti returns to action this week at the Sardegna Open in Sardinia. Unseeded in the draw, he starts his campaign against Austria’s Dennis Novak on Tuesday. Should he win, he will then have to play top seed and world No.29 Dan Evans who is yet to play a ATP final on the clay in his career.
“I really enjoy playing here,” he said. “It is a really nice club. It is always sunny… I am really looking forward to playing here in Sardinia and I will try to [achieve] the best result I can. In Sardinia last year, I did good [and made] the semi-finals. I will try to do the same or better.”
Looking further ahead Musetti is hoping to qualify for the season-ending ATP Next Gen Finals which will take place in Milan where he has been hosted the event since its birth in 2017. Last year’s edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My goal now is to play at the highest level that I can with the tournaments on the ATP Tour and then, at the end of the season, we will try to play the Next Gen ATP Finals, try to win it,” he stated. “In Italy, we now have a lot of tournaments and a lot of achievements. I am really looking forward to playing every tournament in Italy that I can.”
This week will only be the sixth time in Musetti’s career he has played in the main draw of an ATP Tour event.
