“Federer is the one who is getting closer to the decline,” says Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti

“Federer is the one who is getting closer to the decline,” says Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti

Lorenzo Musetti Roger Federer Rafael Nadal

Lorenzo Musetti, the 19-year old teenager from Italy has been slowly rising in ranks on the ATP Tour after some amazing performances on the Junior level.

Musetti finished as the runner-up at the 2018 US Open Juniors and then won the 2019 Australian Open Juniors that made him the World No. 1 in the Juniors rankings.

He has been successful at the Challenger level winning multiple titles but is yet to win at the Main Draw. He is part of the new generation of Italian tennis stars that have emerged on the scene along with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Sonego etc.

With such young talents competing on the tour, there has been a long debate going about the dominance Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and how long can they maintain their dominance.

Weighing in his opinion on the matter, Lorenzo Musetti speaking with Sky said, “Federer is the one who is getting closer to the decline.”

Roger Federer has been missing on the tour for a long time and missed nearly 15 months of action post the conclusion of the 2020 Australian Open due to his injury followed by the Pandemic. He made his comeback at the Qatar Open 2021 but lost in the quarter-finals of the stage. He again took a break and has not played since Qatar Open that concluded in March,2021.

“I hope the generational change will soon happen.” wishes Lorenzo Musetti

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti with his 2019 Australian Open Juniors trophy.

Lorenzo Musetti has won 2 titles this year at the Challenger level and his best performance on the tour came at the Acapulco Open 2021 in Mexico where he made it till the semi-finals. Post the conclusion of the tournament, he became the youngest player to be ranked under 100 in the ATP Rankings.

Talking further about the much talked shift in the game, Musetti said, “Nadal already lost two matches on clay this year, which is surprising. I hope the generational change will soon happen.”

Rafael Nadal often called the ‘King of Clay’ won his 12th Barcelona Open at the Barcelona Open 2021 and made till the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters 2021 and the Madrid Masters 2021. With his standards, 2 clay defeats are surprising but had these been results of some other player, it would have been appreciated better.

The 39-year old Federer and 34-year old Nadal have often been targeted about their dominance reducing but it will be no shocker if the duo win go on winning more titles, making comebacks every time they have been doubted.

Rafael Nadal is currently at the Rome Masters 2021 where he has qualified for the quarter-finals whereas Roger Federer is set to feature at the Geneva Open 2021.

Lorenzo Musetti was knocked out in the Round of 32 at the Rome Masters and is yet to confirm his participation in the upcoming tournaments before the 2021 French Open.

Also Read: Geneva tournament director lauds Roger Federer’s patriotism towards Switzerland