Musetti and the beauty of being vintage

Perhaps Lorenzo Musetti is too good-looking for today’s tennis. You find yourself wanting to watch him, to swing that one-handed backhand alongside him – a shot that has remained a rarity in a world dominated by all-out power. He himself describes that shot, which he learnt as a child, as ‘vintage’, and fortunately no coach has tried to alter it to follow the latest trends and the crowd. However, what is one of his strengths also risks being a problem. Lorenzo, who is currently ranked 24th in the world, comes up with angles and trajectories that others don’t see, but in the end, what matters is always winning one more set than your opponent. “I’ve always been a bit of an aesthete. I like beauty – the beauty of things. Being described as one of the most elegant players, with a somewhat unusual style, makes me very proud.” He then adds a remark that perhaps says more than anything else about his maturation: “In recent years, I’ve realised that effectiveness often trumps beauty. You have to try to be as simple as possible, but also effective.” Musetti is currently in Milan for sponsorship commitments. He has returned as a brand ambassador for Kia, a brand that had already supported him a few years ago, and he likes to compare himself to an electric car: “It represents the future, as well as elegance and style. I like to describe myself as quiet and clean on the tennis court, despite my vintage backhand.”

2026 has not been the year he had hoped for. After a blistering start that saw him break into the world’s top five and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open – where, leading 2-0 against Djokovic, he was forced to retire due to an adductor injury. “Unfortunately, it’s been a season full of injuries rather than results. Now I’m dreaming of the Finals, but the real aim is to build a stronger physique that can withstand the demands of modern-day tennis, where, incidentally, we’re also forced to play in particularly harsh weather conditions.” The Turin Finals are his end-of-season dream, before returning to his long-held aspirations: “I’ve got plenty of them up my sleeve. It’s hard to narrow them down to just one, but winning a Grand Slam is certainly one of them.” And if he had to choose, the answer comes easily: “Wimbledon, for its reputation and its uniqueness.” But Wimbledon isn’t enough. “That dream goes hand in hand with becoming world number one.”

“After Australia, I felt I was really close to that goal. Now I need to make up a few places. The irony is that just when I thought I was at my peak, I got injured,” he adds. Training the body and the mind. Tennis demands everything. “I work with a psychologist every week, both on personal and professional matters. And I train physically practically every day – that can’t be put on hold.” Because if there’s one area where Musetti feels he has changed, it’s precisely the mental aspect: “Throughout my career, I’ve had to grow a great deal in this respect.” This also applies to those days when the racket seems to have a life of its own and Lorenzo has another. The outbursts, the protests, the odd match he’s gifted more to himself than to his opponent. “Unfortunately, they’re part of who I am. But I think I’ve improved a lot recently.” And it is precisely that greater control, he says, that has allowed him to play better: “My attitude and behaviour on court have helped me maintain greater discipline and also greater creativity.”

Creativity that stems above all from that one-handed backhand which, in modern tennis, seems almost an endangered species. “I think that’s what sets me apart from the modern game. Unfortunately, the one-handed backhand is slowly disappearing.” The reason is simple: “With the pace of the modern game, it’s increasingly difficult to get anything out of that shot. In fact, it’s hardly taught in tennis schools anymore.” He, however, is holding out. “I always hope to leave a glimmer of hope for a shot that, sadly, is fading away.” No one, he says, has ever really tried to turn him into a two-handed player: “My tennis has always been built around the one-handed backhand. I’ve developed a playing style that works with that shot. No one has ever made me use a second hand.” Thank goodness, one might add.

With that one-handed backhand, he beat Djokovic when he was world number one, Alcaraz in the Hamburg final, and Zverev at the Olympics. He has beaten all the greats except one. “Jannik is the only one I’ve never beaten.” Yet he does not speak of Sinner with annoyance, but rather with admiration. “Jannik has blazed a trail that no one had ever even touched upon. Before him, there had never been an Italian world number one, and no one in Italy had ever won so many Grand Slams.” When asked which shot he’d steal from Sinner, Musetti gives a surprising answer. Not the forehand, not the backhand, not the serve. “I’d steal his mental strength. I think that’s the thing that’s always impressed me the most.” After all, that’s where the difference between the very best players lies today. “We have completely different playing styles, but his mental composure – the way he manages to contain all the negative situations that arise on court and even off it – is something I’d gladly steal from him.” There is one area, however, where Musetti seems to feel no comparisons or hierarchies: when he plays for Italy. “For me, the Olympic medal means the world. And then there’s the Davis Cup. It was as if I could feel an energy, a sort of human warmth coming from the crowd and from the whole of Italy. Representing your country is, I think, one of the most wonderful things.” “In recent years, we’ve shown that this friendship has also helped us raise our game.”

Off the court, Musetti, aged 24, already has a life that many of his peers will only discover much later. He became a father to Ludovico at 22, and then came Leandro. “I made this choice at a rather unusual age. I also received a lot of negative comments. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it media backlash, but there were those who said I wouldn’t be ready and that having a child would ruin my career.” The exact opposite happened. “Ever since Ludovico was born and I discovered the joy of being a dad, I’ve had a surge of motivation and inspiration, even in my professional life.” So, together with Veronica, they decided not to stop there: “We went for two straight away”Now Ludovico already has a small racket. “Sometimes he asks me to play in his bedroom or around the house. He often sees me on the telly, so by now he definitely associates the racket and the ball with his dad.” Now he’ll also see him on billboards, stripped down to his underpants by another sponsor who wanted him as a brand ambassador: “It wasn’t easy to tell Veronica, but in the end she was happy about it too.”