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

There will be an Italian in the Wimbledon men’s semi-finals – just not the one we expected. 

25th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti edged 13th-seeded American Taylor Fritz, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach his maiden Grand Slam semi-final, setting a final four clash with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. 

He is the fourth Italian man in history to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, along with Nicola Pietrangeli (1960), Matteo Berrettini (2021) and Jannik Sinner (2023).

“I think I didn’t realize yet what I’ve done,” Musetti said on court after his triumph. “I had the opportunity to walk onto this amazing stadium, it was really an honor for me – I’m really happy to be in my first semifinal here.

“Probably I played my best tennis [in the fifth set], I kept the best for the end.” 

In a back-and-forth tussle, beneath (long awaited) sunny skies on Wimbledon’s iconic Centre Court, Musetti and Fritz traded blows for well over three hours, and ended up deadlocked at two sets apiece after the American stormed through the fourth. 

The California native’s momentum would be short-lived, however, as Musetti produced dazzling tennis in the decider, reeling off the first five games before officially closing the door on Fritz. 

Beaten by Fritz in straight sets in Wimbledon’s first round in 2022, Musetti demonstrated how far he has come as a competitor in today’s clash. Musetti won 28 of 41 points in the fifth set, and converted all seven points he played at the net.

Attitude is everything

Musetti credited his positive attitude for helping him navigate the trials and tribulations of the contest. He was broken in the opening game of the second set but immediately answered back to change the tone of his fourth career meeting with Fritz.

“The second set I had a big reaction after the first break, at the start of the second set,” Musetti said. “Immediately I changed my mind, I changed my attitude, and that probably made the difference. The attitude that I put on court all this week is making a big difference, and hopefully on Friday I am going to have the same one.”

Musetti has now won two five-setters at Wimbledon this year – marking the first time he has ever won multiple five-setters at the same major. He improves to 5-7 overall in deciding fifth sets, while Fritz drops to 11-11.

Tranformation on grass

In the midst of his best grass-court season ever, Musetti is putting his full palette to work on the surface. He’s hitting more slices off the backhand wing (notably on return), making better shot selection choices in general, and using his speed and court craft to befuddle his opponents.

Here at Wimbledon he has continued momentum that started on the grass at Stuttgart and Queen’s Club.

After reaching the semi-final at Stuttgart this year, Musetti then reached the final at Queen’s Club. It was there that many began to take notice of his improved form on the surface.

“When I saw him play at Queen’s, that’s the first time I’ve seen him use a lot more probing chips, not hitting over the backhand as much, and using his game, using his speed,” former ATP world No 4 Brad Gilbert said on ESPN. “I felt like that was one of those blossoming weeks for somebody who had never had that much success on this surface – he has really transformed himself to belief here at Wimbledon.”

Big battles with Djokovic, and learning from the losses

On Wednesday the potential of Musetti was on full display in Centre Court, but he’ll have to find another level if he is to push seven-time champion Djokovic on the court he has dominated over the last ten years.

Djokovic owns the 5-1 lifetime edge against Musetti, but the Italian has taken him to deciding sets at Roland-Garros twice, in 2021 and again this year in a hotly contested third-round battle that finished at 3:06 AM.

“He probably knows better than me the surface, and the stadium for sure,” Musetti said with a smile, adding: “Jokes apart, he’s a legend, everywhere, but especially here at Wimbledon in the last years, he’s made [a career that is] unthinkable for anyone. I’ve had the chance to play against him a lot of times so we know each other pretty well.

“They’ve always been huge fights so I expect [another] big, big fight. I think it’s going to be one of the toughest challenges on tour, but I’m an ambitious guy and I like to be challenged. I’ll try my best and I’ll try to put my 100 percent effort – let’s see what’s gonna happen.”

The Italian says that, despite the tough losses he has had in the majors, many of them coming in five sets, he has been learning all the while.

“I’ve had many, many tough losses,” he said. “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 in the fifth. Huge loss against Carlos where I didn’t even play my tennis.

“I think I made, of course, a step forward in the maturity and experience. Probably that losses with all big champions made me think, made me work harder. The win of today is probably the result – I think I can have a chance with Nole the next round.”

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