Lorenzo Musetti defeats Casper Ruud on Thursday in Paris to reach the quarter-finals and confirms that he is extremely comfortable also playing on hard courts. As per Lorenzo’s words, the Italian was raised on clay courts. Nevertheless, he had to learn to be competitive on fast surfaces. Musetti made a difficult and courageous decision at the beginning of the year when he decided not to play on clay in Latin America in the first quarter and collect “easy” points. Instead, Lorenzo decided to play on hard courts (Pune, Rotterdam, Dubai), where he was not so confident. The idea was to improve his tennis on hard courts.
Improved serve and return
During a lovely interview with the Tennis Channel, Lorenzo Musetti revealed that he is no longer sure that clay courts are his favorite surface. During the interview, he stressed the fact that he had to work a lot on his serve and return to be more competitive on hard courts. Here is the video.
Musetti in Paris, ranking, and results in 2022
LLWLWWWLLW Currently ranked no.23 (career-high), Musetti has a composed 43-25 win-loss record in 2022. The Italian is participating in Paris where he bested the world no.17 Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4, the world no.106 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4 6-2 and the world no.4 Casper Ruud 4-6 6-4 6-4.
Musetti clinched 3 titles in 2022 in the Forli 6 Challenger, in Hamburg and in Naples.
Casper Ruud in 2022
Now ranked no.4, the Norwegian played his last match on the 3rd of November when he was defeated by world no.23 Lorenzo Musetti 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the 3rd round in Paris (draw).
At present, during this year the Norwegian has achieved an overall 48-20 record. The Norwegian clinched 3 titles in 2022 in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad. Ruud was the finalist in Miami, at the French Open and at the U.S. Open.
Lorenzo Musetti and Casper Ruud squared off only on 2 occasions. Their current record is 1-1. The last time they competed against each other, Lorenzo Musetti won 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the 3rd round in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) on the 3rd of November 2022.
