Kamal Ghorui
MELBOURNE: Has the 6 ft 1’ Lorenzo Musetti, armed with a single-handed backhand that is a work of art, emerged as the answer to the ‘who is the Sincaraz challenger?’ debate? Plenty of words and facts are swirling around Melbourne Park.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The 23-year-old Italian, the father of two infant boys, and ranked at a career-high No. 5 in the world, advanced with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over the lanky American Taylor Fritz in a top-ten battle that put him into his fourth major quarter-final and first at the Australian Open.Next up is the test that is the mother of all tests, a generational clash against the world No. 4 Novak Djokovic, 38. A couple of days after he finished a four-hour, 27-minute five-set battle against the cerebral Tomas Machac, Musetti showed no signs of fatigue under a bruising afternoon sun that appeared like a preview to Tuesday when temperatures are set to climb to 45 degrees here. The Italian opened his shoulders and dictated play from the baseline, crushing 33 winners and using his heavy top-spin forehand to draw errors from Fritz, who was not at his best on the day.“Today my serve was really working well,” said Musetti, who sent down 13 aces and won 84 per cent of his first-serve points. “I made one of my best performances in aces in my career so far, so I’m really, really happy.”He added, “I have great memories from the juniors, when I lifted the trophy (in 2019). But of course, I never had the chance to play in such a beautiful court and with such a great atmosphere after I turned pro.”Former No.1 Marat Safin, now the coach of Andrey Rublev, was asked to name a disruptor to the Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner duopoly.“Alcaraz, Sinner,” Safin repeated, before adding, “I would say Musetti.”While there has never been a question about the Italian’s talent, some gurus even rating him higher than Sinner at the start of his career, the point is Musetti needs to overcome challenges. Like he did in the fourth-round on Monday.“Playing against Novak is always challenging, especially here, where he has won many times,” Musetti said of the ten-time winner. “He knows the conditions. I think it will be a tough match. Of course, he’s feeling good, he had the chance to rest for a few days (after the walkover in the fourth round). I will try to be well-prepared and well-relaxed for this match.”Musetti, who trails the head-to-head 1-9 against the Serbian star, added, “We know each other pretty well because we played a lot. Just won once against him. Hopefully I’ll take my revenge, because last time in Athens we were really, really close. I feel like I have another chance now.” While listing the challenges of playing the 38-year-old Djokovic, Mustetti said, “facing his character, his status as a player and as a champion, the second one of course, the way he turns around sometimes from difficult situations, raising his level.” Keys bows outThe reigning Aus Open champion Madison Keys saw her fourth-round exit differently to others.Keys went down to fellow American and close friend Jessica Pegula in straight sets 3-6, 4-6 on Monday.But when asked whether the loss hurt more given her previous tournament, Keys was quick to point out that failing to defend a title doesn’t erase the original.“Honestly, I’d say it feels way better losing and still being defending champion because it means you’ve won,” Keys said. “So, again, it’s not like the world is ending because I lost today.”“I have 11 months of the year left, and there is still lots to be proud of, and I’m still going to go out and work on new things and try to implement them in the next tournament,” she said.
