Lorenzo Musetti Explains What Happens Everytime He Tries to Reach Carlos Alcaraz’s Level: “I Need to Work a Lot”
Lorenzo Musetti lost seven matches out of the eight he played against World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz.
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Carlos Alcaraz, Lorenzo Musetti (Image via X/Tiempo de Tenis)
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Lorenzo Musetti knows that to climb the tennis ladder, he has to first challenge the top two players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. To improve himself, he has now added veteran coach Jose Perlas to his team.
Perlas became a part of the entourage earlier this year, and he will be working alongside longtime coach Simone Tartarini. The experienced coach had also worked with Rafael Nadal‘s former coach, Carlos Moya, and Alcaraz’s former coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. Musetti recently sat for an interview with Gill Gross during which he laid bare his plans to make himself a better player.
As for my goals, the idea is clearly to try and close the gap between me and Alcaraz and Sinner. I’ve played Carlos several times, while I’ve only faced Jannik once, in New York, where I didn’t manage to show my best. Against Carlos, however, I felt good, especially on clay, like in Monte Carlo and Roland Garros, where I was even a set ahead. But every time I’ve tried to reach his level, I’ve had a few injuries that have prevented me from getting where I wanted to be.
Musetti has met the six-time Grand Slam champion seven times, emerging as the winner just once. That lone win came in 2022, in their first meeting in the Hamburg Open final. Musetti lost the three matches he played against the four-time Grand Slam champion.
To close that gap, I need to work a lot on my physical conditioning, and fortunately, I’m already making progress. I also have a new coach, Jose, who will certainly give me some useful advice.
Lorenzo Musetti added
This year, Musetti reached three finals, and this helped him secure a spot in the ATP Finals. After losing the Monte Carlo Masters to Alcaraz, Musetti failed to beat Alejandro Tabilo at the Chengdu Open. He then signed up for the first edition of the Hellenic Championship, where only victory in the final would have secured a spot at the ATP Finals. But Musetti lost to Novak Djokovic, who withdrew from the year-end event, and Musetti flew to Turin as the Serb’s replacement.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov on Carlos Alcaraz-Juan Carlos Ferrero breakup
Former World No.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov has blamed Carlos Alcaraz‘s father, Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez, for his split with the coach of seven years, Juan Carlos Ferrero. Kafelnikov thinks Alcaraz is a grown man now, and his parents shouldn’t interfere with his decisions related to his career. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion can’t understand the need to end the partnership that saw Alcaraz reach the No.1 ranking as well as win 24 tour-level titles, including the six Majors.
But why end such a happy partnership in the first place? At least that’s how it seemed… There were never any signs that they were going to split up: winning Grand Slams, being number one in the world… I’m sure Carlos’s father has a lot to do with this breakup, not Carlos himself.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov told CLAY
Alcaraz hired the 2003 French Open champion in 2019. A year prior to that, Alcaraz joined the former World No.1’s Ferrero Tennis Academy. Samuel Lopez, who joined the Murcia native’s team last December, will coach him at the Australian Open, but it’s uncertain whether Alcaraz will hire another coach.
Next is the Australian Open, where Alcaraz will be bidding to complete the Career Grand Slam. Alcaraz has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals in the Melbourne Major, losing twice in the last eight, in 2024 and 2025, at the hands of Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic in four sets, respectively. Alcaraz finished the 2025 season with eight titles from 11 finals.
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