Lorenzo Musetti makes Top 10 debut

Blend a picturesque, classic playing style with modern firepower and you get a tennis superstar who would make even the greatest Italian artists proud. It is that mix that has fuelled Lorenzo Musetti’s rise to the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings.

The Italian boasts a textbook one-handed backhand, capable of producing winners from difficult spots, including deep beyond the baseline, outside the doubles alley or off-balance positions. His forehand is just as lethal if not more. Driven by an extreme grip that results in a ball loaded with RPMs, Musetti’s forehand kicks up high and forces opponents to hit above their strike zone.

For a player who has consistently been inside the Top 25, Musetti’s recent run of form on European clay has featured some of his career-best results, lifting him to No. 9 in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings. He is the third-youngest Italian to break inside the Top 10 — behind Jannik Sinner and former No. 4 Adriano Panatta — and just the sixth overall.

Flashback to the Monte-Carlo semi-finals, when Musetti was overcome with emotion after booking a spot in his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title match and in a memorable moment of raw celebration, the 23-year-old embraced his girlfriend Veronica Confalonieri courtside.

Musetti had just capped back-to-back Top 10 wins to reach the final and it became clear, it was just a short matter of time before he too would join that elite group.

“After Monte-Carlo, something changed in myself, a positive click forward,” Musetti said in Madrid. “That’s something I have been waiting for for a long time. I feel more secure on what I have to do on the court.”

Italians in the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings

Musetti has proven to be a threat on all three surfaces. Last year, he was a finalist at The Queen’s Club, a grass ATP 500 event. He followed that up with a semi-final showing at Wimbledon, his best result at any Slam. In the past 52 weeks, he has reached at least the semi-finals at nine tour-level events, including the Paris Olympics, where he earned the bronze medal.

A native of Carrara in the Tuscany region, Musetti will receive a hero’s welcome this week at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the ATP Masters 1000 event in his home country. With just 30 points to defend in Rome, Musetti has a prime opportunity to climb even further from his newly earned career high.

Though the spotlight is frequently on Sinner and Musetti, who is just six months younger than the World No. 1, they are just at the forefront of an Italian charge on the ATP Tour.

Nine Italians are featured in the Top 100 and seven of them are 24 years or younger, meaning the country’s golden era in men’s tennis is just getting started. Last year, Sinner became the first Italian to join the ATP No. 1 Club.

Musetti, a former junior No. 1 who is now a two-time tour-level titlist, is proving he is made for the sport’s biggest stages — with a one-hander that would not look out of place in an art museum.