Lorenzo Musetti Being Named ‘Italian Athlete of the Year’ Ahead of Jannik Sinner Draws Flak from Fans – “This is Insane”

Jannik Sinner won six titles while compatriot Lorenzo Musetti played three finals, losing all, this year.

Lorenzo Musetti Being Named ‘Italian Athlete of the Year’ Ahead of Jannik Sinner Draws Flak from Fans – “This is Insane”

Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, We Are Tennis)

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Jannik Sinner won six titles from 10 finals this year, the most on the ATP tour after Carlos Alcaraz, the winner of eight titles from 11 finals. Despite his results, which also include the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the ATP Finals, he couldn’t win the ‘athlete of the year’ award in Italy.

One of Italy’s leading publications, La Gazzetta dello Sport, instead of Sinner, named Lorenzo Musetti as their ‘Italian Athlete of the Year’ to the utter surprise of the many. They said choosing Sinner for this award was a no-brainer because he was the more successful Italian this year.

Musetti played three finals this year, losing all. He first reached the title clash of the Monte Carlo Masters, where Alcaraz denied him the win, following which, the 23-year-old progressed to the final of the Ningbo Open, only to lose to Alejandro Tabilo.

To make his debut at the ATP Finals, Musetti signed up for the first edition of the Hellenic Championship. The win in the ATP 250 event would have directly made him the eighth player to qualify. Musetti reached the final but failed to go past Novak Djokovic.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion, also ATP Finals’ most successful player with seven titles, decided to withdraw at the last moment due to a shoulder injury. It was the second consecutive time the Serb pulled out of the year-end championships.

Musetti arrived in Turin as the 38-year-old’s replacement. He failed to move to the semifinals of the ATP Finals. Last year, he lost three finals, with his last title being the Tennis Napoli Cup, which he won in 2022.

Fans slam La Gazzetta dello Sport for choosing Lorenzo Musetti as the Athlete of the Year over Jannik Sinner

When La Gazzetta dello Sport’s decision about the Athlete of the Year award made the headlines, fans just couldn’t understand the reason behind their decision to choose Lorenzo Musetti ahead of Jannik Sinner. Some think the decision could be due to the Davis Cup controversy.

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (Image via X/Jose Morgado)

Some fans also argued that if La Gazzetta dello Sport wanted to ignore Sinner, they should at least have made WTA ace Jasmine Paolini the winner instead of Musetti. Paolini clinched four titles in doubles, including the French Open. She also won the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with Italy. In singles, the World No.8 clinched the Italian Open by defeating Coco Gauff. She also qualified for the WTA Finals for the second consecutive time.

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The four-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the Davis Cup because he wanted to have an extra week off so that he could start his pre-season early. Musetti also didn’t feature as after non-stop tennis, he deemed it best to rest his body.

Sinner’s withdrawal drew heavy backlash from the Italian tennis community because he, in the end, was the team’s most important player. In the 2023 and 2024 editions, Sinner won all his matches, helping Italy beat Australia and the Netherlands in the finals. But Italy, without the services of Sinner and Musetti, still prevailed at the end. In the final, they went past Spain to complete a historic three-peat.

Sinner’s season ended with a straight-set win over Carlos Alcaraz in the championship clash of the ATP Finals. The 24-year-old also ended his Masters 1000 title drought by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Paris Masters. Sinner lost just six matches this year, four of which he suffered at the hands of Alcaraz- in the finals of the Italian Open, French Open, Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open. Apart from Alcaraz, the players who defeated the World No.2 this year were Alexander Bublik at the Halle Open and Tallon Griekspoor at the Shanghai Masters (gave the walkover).

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