'Roger Federer is my idol, Wimbledon is my...', says young ATP ace

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

It is one of the beautiful surprises of this 2021, but already in 2020 we had admired glimpses of his talent. Lorenzo Musetti surprises week after week and in the last month we have seen his great progress: the young blue, who turned 19 just a few weeks ago, reached the semifinal at the ATP 500 in Acapulco and also performed well at the Masters 1000 in Miami.

In recent weeks he has risen to the news for several prestigious victories, first of all those in Acapulco where he beat Grigor Dimitrov in a hard-fought match and always in that tournament he beat his first Top Ten, the Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

The blue only had to go to the semifinals in the Mexican tournament against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, still higher than these levels. Lorenzo Musetti recently revealed that 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer was his idol while growing up, and that Wimbledon is his favorite among the four Slams.

As part of the 'Get to know' series with the International Tennis Federation magazine, Musetti answered a series of questions on things that fans may not know about him.

Musetti on his passion for Roger Federer

The similarity in Lorenzo Musetti's playing style and that of Roger Federer is perhaps not surprising given that he has always looked up to the Swiss as his role model.

"Who was your tennis idol growing up?" ITF asked, to which Musetti replied: "Roger Federer." Lorenzo Musetti picked his win over Stan Wawrinka at the Rome Masters last year as his favorite tennis match. "What has been the favorite tennis match you have been involved in?" ITF asked, to which Musetti replied: "Against Stan Wawrinka last year in Rome." When asked to pick his favorite Slam, Musetti chose the grass courts of Wimbledon over the clay-courts of Roland Garros.

"What is your favourite Grand Slam and why?" ITF asked, to which Musetti replied: "Wimbledon because it is the paradise of tennis." Federer took a break from tennis to rest and recover from a second knee surgery he underwent after last year’s Australian Open.

He not only missed the bulk of tennis action last season but also withdrew from the Australian Open this year, saying he still hadn’t reached the desired level of fitness. Though Federer won his comeback match against Englishman Dan Evans, he fell to three-set defeat in his next to big-hitting Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Thereafter, he opted out of ATP Dubai and the prestigious Miami Open to focus on fitness and training ahead of the grass court swing.