Lorenzo Musetti hopes to face Rafael Nadal, but not on clay
Lorenzo Musetti, a rising star in the world of tennis, has expressed his wish to take on Rafael Nadal, but hopefully not on clay, where the Spaniard is considered the best player ever.
Musetti was recently in the headlines for securing his career's biggest win, when he defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters. He then exited the tournament following defeat to compatriot Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals.
This was Musetti's first win against the Serb in four meetings. In the fourth round of the 2021 French Open, the 21-year-old took eventual champion Djokovic to five sets.
The Italian, who considers Roger Federer the greatest player of all time, recently revealed that he dreamt of facing the 20-time Grand Slam champion, who retired last year after failing to recover from a knee injury. The youngster has never played against Nadal either.
In a recent conversation with CLAY, when the World No. 18 was asked if he was looking forward to facing Nadal on the tour, he said:
"Yes, for sure. My dream was to play Federer, but he retired. I played with him in practice, but it’s not the same thing to test yourself and get on the court against a legend like that. I think it’s going to be the same with Nadal. I hope I don’t play him on clay because it’s going to be difficult, but they are matches you will never forget."
Musetti added that his style of play was identical to that of Federer, especially the one-handed backhand.
"It’s difficult to compare tennis players. All the games are different, but I think my style is quite similar to Roger’s," he opined.
Lorenzo Musetti picks Roger Federer as the GOAT
Speaking to Gio after bowing out of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters, Lorenzo Musetti was asked about his favorite player while growing up, which retired player he would like to face, and who was the greatest according to him. His answer to all three questions was Roger Federer.
“My favorite player, for sure, was Roger Federer," Musetti said. "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."
Although the Italian garnered a lot of attention after beating Novak Djokovic in Monte-Carlo and reaching the semifinals at the Barcelona Open, he found himself out of the Madrid Masters in the second round, losing to German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.