Even a top 10 player in the PIF ATP ranking sometimes still has to say ‘too good’.
That was the case for Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday evening in the US Open after the world no. 10 fell on a quarterfinals defeat against Jannik Sinner. After dropping the first five games of the game, Musetti was unable to take back enough momentum to stop the indictment of World No. 1 and title defender Sinner, who still dropped only one set about his five games so far in New York this year.
“I feel like the first set that I had a little too much in a hurry,” Musetti reflected in his press conference after the game. “I think it was not easy for me to find the right feelings with the ball in the beginning, because so far I have never played on the night session. So I think it was a bit different than what I played in the previous games during the day.
“But of course I felt that Jannik was at a different level, I would say, many, many occasions. The second set is the set where I served better and where I had more opportunities. I had a breaking point that I didn’t take it. I think you have to take the few chances to take you and I couldn’t do it.”
With his 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory against Musetti in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the sinner improved to 3-0 in the Lexus ATP Head2head series of the couple. For Musetti, who is good friends with his fellow Italian outside the field, the competition was a chance for him to experience the current level of Sinner up close: prior to Wednesday evening in New York, the couple had not played since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters-Quart final of 2023.
“Of course many things changed from our last meeting,” said Musetti. “We both grew up … I never, to be honest, played someone who put me on this kind of almost in the rally, and I didn’t have many opportunities on the rally, and he always led the rally. So that was a kind of bad feeling, of course, when I played against him.
“I was quite impressed by Jannik’s performance today. I think he served very well, and he pushed me to the limit. Of course he is better than me, and he showed. But I am glad I played against him to understand even the things I have to improve. So hopefully I can have a test again soon.”
Despite a quarter-final defeat, Musetti has considerably raised his Nitto ATP Finals qualification with his run in New York. The 23-year-old has risen one place to eighth place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin while haunting a debut performance during the prestigious season finale of November.
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