Musetti defeated world number two Alexander Zverev to advance to the final four in Rome, becoming the fifth player since 2000 to reach each of his first three Masters 1000 semi-finals on clay.
The Italian is enjoying an impressive clay season, having advanced to the semi-finals of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, as well as reaching the final in Monte Carlo, where Musetti lost to Alcaraz.
Musetti wanted to play Alcaraz at the Madrid Open in the hope of getting revenge on the Spaniard, and will now have his chance to do so in Rome.
The world number nine’s victory marks his third consecutive win over Zverev, who has failed to defend his Italian Open title.
Following his straight sets triumph over the German, Musetti explained how he was able to overcome his opponent.
Lorenzo Musetti says Alexander Zverev became ‘destabilised’ after losing four set points
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Musetti said: “I have to say that certainly saving those four set points at that moment, in my opinion, destabilised him a lot.”
“In fact he played not a very good tiebreak. I was very good at staying solid, taking advantage of his mistakes a little and then getting back into the fight in the second set and then breaking him at the end with a great game.”
On defeating his opponent, the Italian added: “The feeling if I had to describe it, is almost a liberation, obviously because it was a really physical match.”
There were lots of exchanges, the conditions were very slow, and playing in the evening was the first time for me.
“It was completely different conditions from my matches with Nakashima, Virtanen and even yesterday’s match with Daniil.”
Lorenzo Musetti’s head-to-head record with Italian Open semi-final opponent Carlos Alcaraz
Musetti has played Alcaraz five times at ATP Tour level, with three of those clashes coming on clay.
Their first bout came at the Hamburg Open in 2022, where Musetti came out on top in a closely contested match.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Monte-Carlo Masters | 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 – Alcaraz |
| 2024 | Miami Open | 6-3, 6-3 – Alcaraz |
| 2023 | China Open | 6-2, 6-2 – Alcaraz |
| 2023 | Roland Garros | 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 – Alcaraz |
| 2022 | Hamburg Open | 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 – Musetti |
Since then, Alcaraz has won all four of their following matchups. He clinched two victories over Musetti in 2023 at Roland Garros and the China Open.
In 2024, the Spaniard enjoyed a dominant win at the Miami Open, cruising past his opponent in the Round of 16.
With their latest match just over a month ago, Musetti will hope to get his second victory over the four-time Grand Slam champion in the Eternal City.
