Lorenzo Musetti heads back to Wimbledon with plenty of points to defend, but comes off the back of a really impressive clay-court campaign too.
After all, the Italian reached at least the semi-final of every event he entered, including three Masters 1000 events and Roland Garros too.
This one-handed backhand specialist just seems to be going from strength to strength, and to discount him this year in SW19 would be foolish.
That is, despite Musetti having opted against playing a pre-Wimbledon event on grass.
Speaking about his return to the All-England Club, his excitement was evident. However, he did have one issue to raise.
Lorenzo Musetti speaks about Wimbledon abolishing human line judges
Asked about the decision to abolish human line judges and replace them with technology, Musetti was keen to weigh in on a debate that plenty of top players have spoken about.
He admitted: ‘I think it’s gonna look a little bit strange because of course we have enormous tradition here in Wimbledon, but in terms of the tournament, [it usually] has its own line umpires. But of course the elegance that was shown by the line umpires here in Wimbledon was such a, you know, a traditional thing, a historical thing.
‘But of course, you know, we are always trying to evolve and I think also speaking as a player, I think like this, we would have less discussion, because I think it’s really tough, you know, to judge, especially right now, when the ball is going really fast.
‘The modern days, I think we will have more, you know, we need more help from the technology. So I agree with this change and especially here on grass, I think that’s the right change that they made.’
Lorenzo Musetti could be a dark horse at Wimbledon
Although he is a returning semi-finalist, it feels like very few people are talking about Musetti as a tangible threat for the Wimbledon title.
And whilst that may be due to his inability to get past a certain Spaniard, there is so much talent in the 23-year-old that, if the stars align, could very easily upset one of the top seeds.
Musetti had to retire from his French Open semi-final vs Carlos Alcaraz after actually taking the first set against the world number two.
Last year, he stunned Taylor Fritz before being swept aside by Novak Djokovic. This year, it really feels like the number of players who would be expected to beat Musetti has dwindled massively.
If he picks up steam on grass, translating his clay-court form onto this surface, you’d be a fool to bet against this mercurial Italian who has proven his worth on these very courts.
