Heir to a certain Italian elegance, Lorenzo Musetti is one of the last members of the world elite to play with a onehanded backhand. A compatriot and contemporary of Jannik Sinner, the Carrara native broke through along a parallel path, making his professional debut and producing his first flashes of brilliance at almost the same time. His emerging talent came to light in 2020 when, at 18, he claimed a magnificent victory over Stan Wawrinka at the Rome Masters 1000 in front of his home crowd, before breaking into the top 100 a few months later thanks to his first semifinal on the main tour in Acapulco in early 2021.

But it was truly in 2022 that the Italian joined the elite of the discipline, notably by winning his first ATP title in Hamburg after a superb final against Carlos Alcaraz, another prodigy of his generation. Without exploding onto the scene as spectacularly as the Spaniard, he nonetheless progressed at remarkable speed.

Exceptionally gifted, armed with a pure, fluid brand of tennis and a sumptuous onehanded backhand, the Tuscan can express his game on every surface, especially the two that best showcase his soft hands and variety: grass and clay. It is no coincidence that he reached his first two Grand Slam semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2024 and then at Roland-Garros in 2025, where he was unfortunately forced to retire against Carlos Alcaraz.

In the meantime, it was also on clay that he produced two of the biggest achievements of his career so far: an Olympic bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Games and a first Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo in 2025, where he was again stopped by Alcaraz.

Often overshadowed by the Murcian phenomenon and by Sinner – with whom he led Italy to two Davis Cup triumphs in 2023 and 2024 – Musetti nonetheless stands out as a credible contender in the race for the sport’s highest honours, all without ever sacrificing elegance in the name of efficiency.