Lorenzo Musetti earned a powerful win over Taylor Fritz in Wimbledon’s recent rollercoaster five-set match to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.
Italy’s world number one Jannik Sinner did not make it into the last four on Tuesday, but thanks to his compatriot, the country’s flag continues to fly in the men’s singles.
Musetti reached this stage for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament, but did not let this spoil his wonderfully extravagant game and took advantage of the ups and downs of the encounter on Court One to triumph 3:6, 7:6 (7:5), 6:2, 3:6, 6:1.
The 22-year-old said: “I’m probably at a loss for words. It’s hard to speak, but I’ll try. I don’t think I’ve realised what I’ve done yet. I want to thank all the Italian spectators who are here to support us.”
“I had the opportunity to enter this really fantastic stadium. It was a great honour for me and I think I played a fantastic game. I’m really, really happy to be here in my first semi-final.”
The reward for the Italian is a duel with seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic, who had the day off thanks to the unfortunate injury of Alex De Minaur.
The result will be a heavy blow for Fritz, who played his fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal but for the first time did not have to face either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal.
The American won the first set easily, but his nerves increased and he screamed at his box in frustration as the match slipped away from him.
It looked like he might have turned things around when he increased his attacking spirit and won the fourth set, but Musetti was thrilled in the deciding set and secured the victory after three hours and 27 minutes.
Fritz had easily won when they met here in the first round two years ago.
He was the more consistent player in the first set, and after a delay while a sick spectator in the front row was being cared for, he managed another break at the beginning of the second set.
Musetti took advantage of a break from Fritz to get back into the game.
He slowly began to dictate the long rallies and kept Fritz on his toes with a mixture of sharp slices and sweeping one-handed topspin backhands.
Musetti took a 5-3 lead but then dropped his serve to nil. However, Fritz was the man under more pressure and the American fended off the first set point with a strong serve.
Musetti then created three more chances in the tiebreak, the last of which Fritz used to score a return.
The 13th seed’s frustration grew as Musetti enjoyed himself and attempted ambitious shots, which he mostly succeeded in achieving, to the delight of the crowd.
He might have managed it in the fourth set if Fritz had not fended off four break points in the fifth game. For a moment it seemed as if the American had found the solution to Musetti’s varied game. But in the last set the Italian was irresistible.