Lorenzo Musetti he landed in semifinale a Wimbledon beating the american Taylor Fritz in cinque set, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1in three and a half hours of gameplay. Nole Djokovic awaits himwho passed his turn due to the withdrawal of Australian Alex De Minaur. For Musetti, it is the first semifinal in a Slam, which allows him to become the fourth Italian to reach this milestone at Wimbledon after Nicola Pietrangeli (1960), Matteo Berrettini (2021) and Jannik Sinner (2023). Among the women, however, there is the absolute first for Jasmine Paolini.
The 22-year-old from Carrara was the protagonist of a match of great consistency and precision: after an uphill start with the first set lost he recovered by conquering the second in the tie-break and then third before a break in the fourth and then taking the fifth and decisive set with a bang. “I have no words, it’s difficult to talk now but I’ll try to do my best,” Musetti commented, “I haven’t realized what I’ve done yet. We had talked before, we had joked with my team that I would try to play on the main courts, because I had never had the honor of playing there. I’m really happy to be in the semifinals for the first time, thanks to my team and the fans who came from my city to support me.”
“In the fifth set I played my best tennis,” he added, “it wasn’t the best start, Taylor was in charge with the serve. In the second I reacted well with the break at the start. I changed my attitude and that made the difference. My approach all week is making a big difference, I hope to keep it in the semifinals on Friday.” Djokovic, who has equaled Roger Federer’s 13 Wimbledon semifinals, “knows the stadium and the surface better than me,” Musetti noted, “he is a legend everywhere, here at Wimbledon in recent years he has done something unthinkable for anyone. We know each other well, our matches have been a battle. I expect it will be one of those, one of the toughest challenges on the Tour. But I am an ambitious person and I like challenges.”