“I always finished with a lesson” – Musetti outlines how he may overcome Grand Slam king Djokovic at Wimbledon

Lorenzo Musetti knows a thing or two about what it takes to succeed against Novak Djokovic. To his credit, he even has recorded a win over the 24-time Grand Slam champion, at Monte-Carlo in 2023.

But when it comes to solving the riddle of how to beat the Serbian legend on the Grand Slam stage, the gifted 22-year-old has encountered nothing but hard knocks.

Not to worry, says Musetti, it’s all a part of the process that enables him to grow and evolve his game.

“I’ve had many, many tough losses,” the 25th-ranked Italian explained after his 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Taylor Fritz in quarter-final action at Wimbledon on Wednesday. “Especially of course the best results before this week were made in French Open. Especially also with Nole, two times in the fifth. One time with Stefanos [Tsitsipas] in the fifth, and a huge loss against Carlos [Alcaraz] where I didn’t even play my tennis (at Roland-Garros in 2023, in the third round).”

Despite those aforementioned losses, Musetti has remained hopeful that his time will come, and that the lessons learned will help him improve.

“I think I made, of course, a step forward in the maturity and experience,” he said. “Probably that losses with all big champions made me think, made me work harder.”

I didn’t take my chances

After losing to Djokovic in a five-setter in the third round at Roland-Garros last month, in a match that ended after 3 AM, Musetti says he has even more confidence that he can be better against Djokovic on big stages.

“I didn’t probably take the chances that I got,” he said of the 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 loss to Djokovic. “I think I analyzed really well that match and the key moments where I could do better.”

In recent weeks, Musetti says he has a different attitude – a determination if you will – that is helping him in tough moments, like the ones he had today against Fritz.

“I think in the past weeks, starting from Stuttgart, I started to feel more continuous on that, on the attitude,” he said. “Even today I have to thank myself for the attitude that I had, especially losing the first set in not, say, a positive way where I didn’t feel my serve really well. I didn’t feel the ball. I was a little bit nervous. Then immediately with a positive attitude I changed all my mindset, and also the feeling with the ball was better. So that’s probably what I have to do in the next round also.”

Variety a revelation on grass

Musetti was 6-7 lifetime on grass ahead of 2024. This year? He’s a spectacular 12-2 on the surface. So what has been the difference? The Italian says he is learning how to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm and dictate the terms of the tennis with his variety.

“Especially like with a good baseliner like Taylor, if you play every time flat, I cannot win a point,” he said. “I mean, I’m playing his game. 

“So probably it was the strategy to try to mix every ball and try to [dictate] the game. Certain points of the match I felt from the baseline I could… win every point. He was not in a good position with all my variation. It’s certainly something that I’m really working on. Since I was a kid, I always didn’t like to do the same stuff on the court, not to be, let’s say, mono-automatic on the court. Probably it’s a good help on grass, and I’m using it this week.”

Lessons learned

It may not get him over the hump against Djokovic on Friday when they meet in the semi-finals, but Musetti’s willingness to learn from his losses and to study his mistakes are clearly a catalyst in his success this week at Wimbledon.

Credit to him for remaining open-minded about his tennis, and for putting himself in positions to learn.

“I have to say with Nole, after the match I always finished with a lesson,” he said. “Of course, the last match was really an intense match from both players and a really stressful match. Against him you are probably more stressed because he’s probably the best player ever, or one of the best players ever. 

“You walk on court with a different mentality. As I said before, I think if I play in a certain way, I could have my shot in the next round.” 

You might also like this

Magical Musetti hits the high notes in the right moments against Fritz to reach Wimbledon semi

tennis majors

Rybakina brushes aside Svitolina, into Wimbledon semi-final

tennis majors

Djokovic walks out of Interview: “Do you have any other questions?”

tennis majors