“In front of him were two aliens,” ITF president admits Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz wouldn’t have let Lorenzo Musetti win gold at the Paris Olympics

ITF president was happy to see Lorenzo Musetti win the Olympic bronze as Novak Djokovic & Carlos Alcaraz were destined for the gold & silver.

“In front of him were two aliens,” ITF president admits Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz wouldn’t have let Lorenzo Musetti win gold at the Paris Olympics

Bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti won Italy’s first Olympic tennis medal in 100 years at the Paris Olympics. The president of the Italian Tennis Federation (ITF) Angelo Binaghi has admitted that he was pleased with the 22-year-old’s achievement as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz wouldn’t have allowed him the gold medal.

Following Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from the Summer Games due to tonsillitis, Musetti carried the burden of winning a medal for Italy in Paris. The Wimbledon semifinalist won his four opening matches without dropping a set. He also beat World No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. However, his strong run ended in the semifinals after losing 6-4, 6-2 to Djokovic.

Despite the defeat, the Italian fought hard to win the singles bronze by beating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the third-place match. The medal was the first for Italy in the sport since the 1924 Games in Paris.

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The President of the ITF recently admitted that he was satisfied with Musetti’s result because Djokovic and Alcaraz wouldn’t have let him win gold or silver.

Sinner's tonsillitis did not affect our results. Musetti's bronze is worth gold: in front of him there were two aliens, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. We who have come this far without Sinner and Berrettini, are the strongest nation in the world. Now let's think about the US Open, we will arrive there in force, for us it will be the most important tournament.
Angelo Binaghi said (via welovetennis)

In addition, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini claimed Italy’s first-ever Olympic tennis gold medal in the women’s doubles. The duo came from behind to beat Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider 2-6, 6-1, 10-7.

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Andy Roddick(L), Novak Djokovic(R)

World No.16 Lorenzo Musetti aims to continue fine form and compete at the ATP Finals in November

Lorenzo Musetti has revealed that his goal this year is to compete at the ATP Finals in November. The tournament sees the Top 8 in the ATP rankings compete for the title. However, the 21-year-old is currently World No.16 and needs to do a lot better to qualify for the tournament.

Lorenzo Musetti (via Imago)

He has reached two finals in the past few weeks, first at the Queen’s Club Championships and then in Umag. Though it will be a daunting task to achieve the goal, Musetti believes he can make the list in November.

That is definitely the dream of this year. It is a challenging goal, but not impossible. There are still many points and many tournaments left, so this bronze also gives me hope of ensuring a certain status. This continuity can help me achieve all the goals I have.
Lorenzo Musetti said (via Puntodebreak)

For Musetti’s goal to be realized, he will need to reach the later stages of each tournament he competes in going forward while also having players ranked higher than him drop ranking points.

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