Lorenzo Musetti: "I dream of the Wimbledon final against Roger Federer!"

Lorenzo Musetti has never hidden the great admiration he feels for Roger Federer. The young blue player had already shown off as a junior by winning the Australian Open in 2019, but this year he made a decisive and important leap in quality by reaching the round of 16 at the Masters 1000 in Rome and the semi-finals in Sardinia.

"Roger Federer is my reference", the words of Lorenzo Musetti

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Musetti talked about his passion for Roger Federer and the qualities that distinguish his style of play.

He said: "Who do you like most to watch play? Federer has always been my favorite player, he's my reference, and continues to be. I grew up with the rivalry between him and Rafael Nadal, and when they ask me what my dream final would be. I always answer against Roger at Wimbledon. My qualities? I like to vary a lot, my game is made up of variations and this is an advantage in modern tennis, where several players do not have a plan B but only a plan A and go into trouble if the opponent reverses the situation. 

The commentators and coaches love the one-handed backhand for me, which is actually a good shot and I am aware of that. In general, if I had to define myself as a tennis player, I like to say that I consider myself a bit retro player, let's say old-fashioned, and this in my opinion is something precious. I don't want to get out of balance, because my career is still long, but I would define myself complete. Or rather, quite complete."

Musetti also found the time to express his opinion on really delicate issues: "Racism? I think we young people are largely underestimated in this sense. My generation is mostly inclusive, ready to welcome diversity and not to conflict. Most of us have already dismissed racism as something absurd."

Born in 2002, Musetti reached this season his first ATP semifinal: in the first edition of ATP 250 in Pula he became the first tennis player in the world born in 2002 to reach a semifinal of the ATP Tour, thanks to the successes in sequence, without losing a set, on Pablo Cuevas, Andrea Pellegrino and Yannick Hanfmann. An arm injury suffered during the semifinal forced him to retire. On 19 October it reaches the 123 position of the ATP ranking.

Roger Federer will come back on the court for the upcoming edition of the Australian Open 2021, in Melbourne, after he skipped the most of this season for his two surgery on his right knee. He only play the Australian Open 2020, reaching the semifinals and losing in straight sets against Novak Djokovic.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/35Pabzw